The Rebirth
by Shadow Master
Summary: (BtVSThe Matrix Trilogy)Things in Sunnydale had always been wierd and even when the existance of Vampires was revealed to him Xander felt he could cope with the help of his friends. Now though the wierdness factor is about to hit a new high and the Zeppo
1. Default Chapter

"The Rebirth" by Shadow Master AKA Ryley Breen

email: : This is just for all of the legal buffs who might take exception to this. I do not own anything about Buffy the Vampire Slayer or The Matrix Trilogy nor anything even remotely related to them. I am not making a profit but rather I am doing this strictly for my own enjoyment. So please do not sue me or send Agents to my door because I have nothing of value save my god like imagination and sad addiction to crossover fanfics.

Note : This is yet another fanfic that my mind has thrown out but I am not sure where I am going to go with it or how long it will last. Most likely your reviews will determine much as well as how long the effects of this particular creativity bug stays in my system. Please review and if you have any suggestions I will be happy to accept them and if they are really good I will try and incorporate them into this fanfic. Now it is time to go down the rabbit hole once again…..

The Rebirth 

_Another day another dollar!_ , Xander thought to himself as he entered his newly bought apartment , _If it weren't for the money I make working construction I would seriously consider moving into a better line of work. Maybe a computer programmer? They make tons of dough and only have to sit in their neat little cubicles all day._

He chuckled to himself at the image of him dressed in an immaculately clean suit typing computer code and making his latest pitch to some snobby supervisor. He might be a lot of things but computer savvy wasn't one of them by a long shot. The only reason he managed to pass his high school computer classes was because Willow had been the substitute teacher for a long while after Miss Calendar was killed. Not only had she not allowed him to waste time in class playing solitaire on the computer but she had all but forced him to stay after school until she was sure he had understood everything. True he had only passed with a C- but that was a fair bit better then the rest of the Ds he had gotten in many of his other classes with the exception of woodworking hence his job at a construction company. In any case though there was no chance he was smart enough computer-wise to get a decent enough desk job at some computer company. Which left him where he was right now which was dirty, tired, hungry and exhausted walking into his place. He had briefly shared it with the former vengeance demon Anyanka but after two months of finding that there was nothing more to her than good sex he had decided to call the relationship quits. She was just too new to the whole hey-I'm-human thing to really hold his interest and contrary to some people's opinions his brains were not located just below his waist.

He wasn't entirely sure why, beyond the healthy relationship and long term commitment reasons, but he was looking for something deeper than just a roll in the hay as the basis of romance between him and a woman. He wanted someone who understood him and accepted him for who he was rather than someone who would try and change him into what they thought the ideal man would be like. Cordy had been like that off and on during their relationship back in high school and even though he genuinely felt guilty for that fluke of a kiss between him and Willow he had also been relieved. It was like a part of him was glad to be free of that partnership and all the confining rules that had come along with it. No more having to break the bank to try and afford clothes she would approve of or expensive gifts to make up for when he put his foot in his mouth. He was free to look elsewhere for companionship and he was determined to let the women of the world know that Casa del Xander was open for business. Unfortunately his predictable luck with women in high school seemed to be following him into his life as an independent person as the only women who seemed to be interested were demon women. So aside from Buffy and company having to bail him out of another demon sacrifice ritual he had gotten downright paranoid about any woman who showed interest in him.

Looking down at his feet he saw that today's paper had been delivered and reached down to pick it up. He sighed though when he looked at the headline 'Children of Zion strike again' and wondered what kind of world he lived in where everyone and everything seemed bent on destruction and blowing things up. This terrorist group had been around since he was about three years old and had done some pretty daring things but the end result was still a massive body count and another demolished building. With only one or two exceptions it seemed that their targets were primarily government buildings or federal law enforcement agencies like the FBI and CIA. It wasn't just in the USA either but all over the world and even after fourteen years the authorities still didn't seem any closer to putting a stop to them then at the beginning. Still with the closest Fed Building being in LA he didn't think they had a great deal to worry about here in good ol' Sunnyhell, California. Unless of course those wackos get it into their heads to try and nuke the entire west coast to make a single clean sweep of their 'unholy enemies' or whatever they called the feddies. He never really liked those that thought that change came out of a barrel of a gun or with the boom of a bomb and while that might seem strange coming from someone who had orchestrated the bombing of his school it wasn't really. He understood after finding out about the things that went bump in the night that force was sometimes an unpleasant necessity when dealing with opponents that had no interest in talking things out. He just felt that most terrorists were just people with a lot of pent up anger looking for a way to vent it and deciding that to either form or join a terrorist group was the way to go.

_Still not my problem_ , he thought to himself as he tossed the paper onto the dining room table, _I just hope someone catches those trigger happy morons before they decide to take things up a notch._

It was just about when he entered the kitchen that he heard something that made him freeze in place and listen harder for the sound in case it happened again. One of the first things he had done when he had moved in was to find all the spots in the apartment that gave off a creaking noise when someone stepped on it. He knew that while his place may be safe from vamps there was a multitude of other nasties that weren't overly inconvenienced by that pesky 'invitation' rule the undead had to follow. Add to that the fact that he was a founding member of the Scooby gang and it wasn't all that odd to expect some demons might want to pay him a 'friendly' visit. He waited a bit and then moved himself in the hopes that he could entice his unknown intruder into moving aas well so he could find out where the sound was coming from. Moving into the kitchen he went over to one cupboard, opened it, and withdrew a wicked looking knife with serrated edges that in addition to being quite sharp had been blessed by four priests. Now sure there were demons who could stand up to that and perhaps live through being stabbed by it but it would hurt like a sonnuva bitch when placed in the right spot. Sticking in behind him underneath his belt he moved to the living room and just as he stepped into it he was rewarded with the sound he had been waiting for up until then.

_Oh man! I can't believe they're in my bedroom!_ He groused mentally as he wondered what the sick demon or human was doing in there.

He shook his head to clear it before any seriously disgusting thoughts entered into it and tried to decide on the next course of action. One, he could try and get to his phone and get Buffy over here with the rest of the gang. Two, he could leave now and hope that the intruder would be gone by the time he got back. Three, he could do the hero thing and try and deal with this problem on his own. Calling Buffy was tempting but he doubted that the perp would wait around for reinforcements to come and would likely be pressured into action. Whether that was running away or killing Xander right then and there was anyone's bet. Leaving right away might save his life but he doubted it would solve anything since as he had nothing of mystical or occult value in his place beyond the basics you could buy from any number of sources. That meant it was most likely him they were after which meant they would keep coming back until they got him so leaving would only prolong the inevitable. That left confronting the perp which in his case required that he find some way to take him by surprise and get a killing hit in before the other could react.

_First I have to get him down here!_ , Xander thought as he looked around the room to see what he had at his disposal, _What would be a nice juicy piece of bait to get this guy to come running?_

Unfortunately the only thing that he could think of using was his newly bought TV which was big enough to cause quite a bang and would catch anyone's attention when they saw it smashed. The only problem was that it was brand new and if he busted it he would have to wait until next paycheck to buy a new one if not the next one after that. While not a TV addict there were a few shows that if he missed or wound up only catching a few minutes of he was very cranky for the rest of the day or night. Still if Buffy could sacrifice parts of her precious wardrobe to combat the forces of darkness he could at least sacrifice one television. Walking over to his TV he pushed it violently off the stand causing it to slam onto the ground with a boom and smoke a bit as something short-circuited. Moving over to a nearby window he smashed it with his elbow and then with less noise made his way to a wall which on the other side was the bedroom. For a moment it seemed as though his baiting wasn't going to work but then he grinned as the encouraging sounds of rapid foot falls headed for the bedroom door. Counting down the distance between him and the intruder he waited until just until the perps head was about to appear before he lashed out with his knife intending to stick it into the throat or chest.

Unfortunately much like other nicely laid plans this one didn't go the way he thought it would as the man, from his build and face, would have been killed he seemed to blur as he slid out of the path of the knife. Xander immediately tried to pull back the knife arm but before he could the man grabbed it and twisted it until he was forced to drop the knife. Refusing to go down without a fight he used the man's focus on one arm to bring around the other in a half decent right hook. This did not improve matters as the man's other hand lashed out in a blur to catch it before it could make contact. This made Xander a little desperate so he did the only thing he could think of and rammed his head forward aiming haphazardly for the other guy's nose. Now I know what some people might think, headbutting someone can be just as painful on the sender as the receiver if you don't do it right but at this point the Zeppo was willing to try anything. Contact was made a moment later and while he did hurt his head a bit the feel of drops of warm liquid hitting his head told him he had hit his mark. Taking advantage of the moment of distraction he kicked the guy between the legs, wincing in sympathy for a moment, before bringing an elbow down right on the base of the guy's skull. He had expected the guy to drop to the ground at which point he would climb on the guy's back and attempt to snap his neck. Unfortunately this guy was stronger than your average human as well as quicker and while it was clear he was hurt he was still on his feet. Feeling the fear well up with in him he made a desperate move and swung his right knee up to catch the guy in the face. This apparently was what the guy had been waiting for since the moment the foot got in range the guy caught it and then lifted him clear off the ground before throwing him into a wall. He hit the surface hard and was in a dense haze when he hit the floor to the point where he could not move nor really tell what was going on around him. He knew somehow that the man who had broken into his place was still there but that was about all he could say for certain.

_Gotta g-get up!_ , he thought to himself as he tried to will his limbs to move, _Those who go down in this kind of fight tend to stay down!_

Using the wall for support he pushed himself upwards on shaky feet as his senses slowly began to fall back into synch with his mind. He could tell that the man was talking on a cell phone now and that he was getting panicky about something. With a growl of frustration the man terminated the call and looked like he was just going to leave and walk away. He didn't even take one step before he stopped, turned around, and walked over to Xander who was only just starting to learn how to stand on his own two legs again. Unfortunately the man seemed to think he should start from the beginning again as with a vicious right hook to the jaw the Zeppo was sent to la-la land and blackness enveloped his mind.

Late Morning, Xander's Apartment 

The thick and comforting substance of unconsciousness was wrapped around him tightly and although his mind was incapable of forming coherent thought at the moment his heart was quite content to remain in that peaceful awhile longer. That was why when he suddenly felt himself drenched in cold water it was a shock to his system that caused him to sit upright and scream to voice how cold the water felt to him.

"Xander! What happened here!" came the familiar voice of his sandbox friend Willow who sounded on the verge of hysterics.

With his senses cleared and fully alert thanks to the cold bath he looked around and found Buffy and Giles there as well inspecting the apartment for added trouble and clues.

"Some creep broke into my place and we had a little tussle that's all." , He replied as he got to his feet, "Geez Willow did you have to dump a bucket of cold water on me! A simple shaking would have gotten me up just as fast and would leave me nice and dry!"

"I tried that but it didn't work and what did you say about a thief breaking into your place?" Willow said managing to both reply to his question and ask one of her own.

"I got home from work late and heard somebody rooting around in my bedroom." , he replied as he walked into said bedroom to get a dry shirt, "There wasn't time to call for help so I tried to beat him on my own."

"Well that sure went spectacularly!" Buffy said sarcastically as she examined the dent his body had made in the wall when he had been thrown into it.

A little annoyed at the jab she had just taken at his competency in battle he said "There wasn't time to call you or the others Buffy. I had to handle this on my own. You may be the Slayer but even you can't be everywhere at once. The rest of us have to learn to take care of ourselves without you because it's a fact of life that you won't always be there to save our lives."

Buffy looked a little taken aback by his statement but Giles stepped in to prevent any potential squabbling from taking place.

"While I agree that a certain amount of self-reliance is needed Xander it seems that this intruder might be a bit more than a normal man can handle." The Watcher pointed while trying not to anger the young man any further.

"Okay I'll admit the guy had some moves but I could've taken him if he hadn't run off the way he had." Xander said defensively while inwardly agreeing with the father figure's opinion.

"He ran away? Why?" Willow asked in the cute little curious and confused way she could when she came across a particularly interesting question she wanted to figure out.

"I don't know. He was talking on his cell phone for a moment, arguing, and then ran off." , Xander replied as he rubbed his jaw where he could feel a nasty bruise forming, "Not before he laid me out with mean right hook though."

"Hmmm, it could mean that he was just hired help and was called off when you detected his presence." Said the Watcher as he pondered this unusual turn of events.

"Yeah but he didn't seem real happy about it hence the purple and yellow splotch on my jaw." Xander replied with a wince as he touched the mark harder and produced the expected but by no means enjoyable pain.

"In any case perhaps it would be prudent to stay with Mrs. Summers for a time until we can determine just who it was that attacked you." Giles suggested as Xander could practically hear the gears turning the head of the man in tweed.

"No way Giles! Whoever has suddenly decided to notice Xander T. Harris is a professional not some garden variety street thug." , Xander declared in refusal of the suggested alternative in accommodations, "Besides I refuse to put Mrs. S in any trouble. She has enough to worry about with Buffy being the Slayer without having to worry about guys in suits causing her trouble."

"But Xander.." Willow began with the wish no doubt to persuade her friend to go where it was safe.

"No 'buts' Willow. Besides the guy was trying uber-hard to not be detected so I doubt they'll try anything anytime soon." , Xander said firmly to quiet the wicca's arguments, "That should give us some time to figure out who they are and what they were after in my apartment."

"I'm going to take a leap and say that it wasn't your wardrobe because I doubt anyone would find those old Hawaii shirts valuable enough to steal. Burn yes, steal no." Buffy said with some levity hoping it would make up for her earlier remark.

"I'll have you know that I got a call just last week for one of my cocoanut and palm tree ones from some guy in Hungary." , Xander said in mock defense of his treasured shirts, "He actually has quite a collection from what he told me."

They all chuckled at this and while Xander was still a bit annoyed that Buffy thought so little of his fighting skills he knew she didn't really mean anything by it. So with a few more kind words Buffy and the others left for their respective jobs or interests leaving him to deal with the mess. The only saving grace was that he didn't have to work today so he didn't have to worry about getting chewed out by the boss for being late. Sadly this was when Murphy's Law decided to kick in with the phone ringing and the caller ID showing it was the construction company calling. For a moment he stood there debating whether or not to bother answering but after looking at the smashed TV in his living room he walked over and picked up the recieverl.

"Harris." He stated calmly as he waited for the yelling voice of his supervisor bellowing for him to get down to the construction site to fix some screw up or another.

"Last night's attack won't me the last Mr. Harris." , came a slightly garbled and unknown voice, "They weren't after your possessions, they were after you."

"What? Who is this ?" Xander asked as he rechecked the caller ID only to find it stating 'Unknown Name, Unknown Number' instead of the name of the place where he worked.

"I can't stay on the line for long. They probably have it monitored." , the voice said ignoring his questions, "If you want to know more come to the abandoned church where your friends fought the order of Taraka and Spike tomorrow night. Come alone, tell no one."

With that the phone went dead and all Xander heard was dial tone before he hung up himself and wondered what the **hell** he had gotten himself into this time.

Unknown Location, Later than Day 

"You were detected." Came an echoing voice from the darkness of what appeared to be a room of some kind but nothing present to indicate what type of building the room was a part of at all.

"It couldn't be helped. If I hadn't moved out of the way I would have gotten a knife in my throat." The now known 'theif' said while trying to remain calm and collected.

"It would have been preferable if you had been killed. Then you would have been marked as just one more dead body in Sunnydale." , came the Dark Voice with a tone that he did not care for excuses, "Now the tin-horns and collaborators know we've been there and who we are interested in. It will be more difficult to acquire the target now."

"Not if we can get one of our people to him first, give him our version of events before our enemies get to him." The Thief countered in the hopes of downplaying the severity of his screw up.

"Yes, I had a similar thought and have already asked Gabriel to arrange a meeting with Mr. Harris." , the Dark Voice said making it known that he was one step ahead of the Thief, "With the right spin on matters we can make certain that he will not even consider anything those fools might tell him to the contrary."

The Thief seemed somewhat pleased that he had apparently anticipated the Dark Voice's plans and hoped that it would succeed since it would mean a lesser punishment for him than if they had lost the target entirely. Still he knew all too well that he was walking on very thin ice at the moment and his every movement as well as word would determine if he would live to see tomorrow.

"Still your mistakes have made them aware of our interest in young Mr. Harris and as such you must be punished for your errors." , the Dark Voice said in a judging manner, "Normally such a failure would be punishable by death but in this case as you are one of our more skilled operatives I think a night and a day spent in purgatory will suffice."

The thief froze at the mention of the abominable place where neophytes and the elderly among them were sent for discipline wherever they misbehaved. He knew that this was a double insult coming from the Dark Voice, special treatment as though he had not earned his rank but rather had been given it due to special connections and that he was given a punishment used only the old weaklings and children among them. That in addition to the torment one received in purgatory itself was enough incentive to cause him to promise himself that he would never fail again. That and a promise to gain some revenge against the target for bringing such shame upon him and tarnishing his spotless record.

"As you command." The Thief said bowing towards the source of the Dark Voice before walking over to a nearby phone.

The Streets of Sunnydale, Late Afternoon 

_Just who are these wierdos?_ Xander thought to himself as he walked along the sidewalk with no particular destination in mind.

After that mysterious call this morning he put in a call to a friend of his at the local phone company to see if he could find out who really called him and where it came from. Unfortunately Tony looked three times for the Zeppo he had met during his various meetings at construction sites and all three times it showed that the call came from the construction company he worked for which led him to where he was now which was square one. He knew that the person, a man by his guess despite the distortion in the voice, didn't work for his boss and he knew he hadn't been dreaming things when he had seen the 'Unknown' messages in place of the usual caller ID. That of course made him all the more paranoid and curious as to why the fates decided his life needed a little more excitement than the usual apocalypse and demon trouble. Still there was a certain gratification in knowing that you rated such attention from the PTBs but that happy was quickly overshadowed by the question of how he was going to deal with it. He had a little over twenty-four hours until the supposed meeting so there was still time to try and get to the bottom of this before he was in too deep to pull himself out. That meant some sniffing around the local low-life hotspots and seeing if there were any new players in town that sounded like the guy that had trashed him last night.

_Looks like it's time to pay Willy the Snitch a visit_ , he thought to himself as he angled back to his apartment to pick up the necessities for such a trip, _The guy may claim to be on the straight and narrow now after the whole Sisterhood of Jhe thing but Willy's smart enough to keep his ear to the ground in case another group of demons decided to follow the Sisterhood's example._

So after picking up a couple of daggers, a cross, five stakes and a short sword he headed for Willy's bar and hoped there wouldn't be any unpleasantness. He had told Buffy earlier that he had been learning how to defend himself without her being there to save him but truthfully he was still not ready to tempt fate by going into a dangerous situation unprepared. Tucking a final trinket into his pocket, as flash/bang grenade he had pilfered awhile back along with the rocket launcher for their battle with the Judge. If he had to make a quick exit it would blind and deafen most of the demons in there long enough for him to make it to the door. As he was about to leave his apartment he debated whether or not he should leave a message on Buffy and Willow's answering machine in their dorm room. It would make good sense to let them know what he was going to try just in case things went sour but he was afraid that if they got the message before he got to Willy's that they would try to stop him and give him the 'you're hopeless in battle' speech. While not exactly false it wasn't exactly true either and brought too many painful memories of the time during High School when they tried to kick him out of the slayage. That coupled with the whole 'wham-bam-thank-you-Xan' thing with Faith and it was not one of his fondest memories. With this in mind he walked up to the entrance of the bar determined to prove that he could handle one snitch and a bar full of drunk demons.

Walking up to the bar he asked "Hey Willy! How's tricks?"

Willy jumped at the sound of his voice no doubt worried that Buffy was with him but calmed down quickly when he realized that Xander was here alone.

"What do you want Harris?" Willy asked in a tone that did not speak well of how much he respected the Zeppo.

Irked slightly Xander responded "Oh the usual. A bowl of pretzels, a glass of whatever you have on tap and some information."

"Information on what?" Willy asked like he was inquiring about the weather.

"New players in town. Look human but are make vamps seem like old men in terms of speed and strength." , Xander responded in a no-nonsense tone, "Might have been around asking questions about me and my friends. Hear anything?"

"New players come into Sunnydale all the time Harris and they all ask about the Slayer." , Willy responded as if talking to someone with special needs, "Besides I got out of the information business, way too hazardous to my health."

"Willy, Willy, Willy! Why do you lie?" , Xander asked as he mockingly shook his head, "We both know you're a snitch through and through. Besides I know after the Sisterhood came through here you'd be listening hard to give yourself as much advance notice as you could in case it happened again."

"So what if I do! I don't have to tell you anything!" , Willy stated with contempt as he occupied his attention cleaning a mug, "Your just the Slayer's gopher! If it wasn't for her you woulda been vampire chow the first week of high school before the Harvest!"

Now this comment started to piss Xander off as Willy was pretty much a spineless coward who would sell his services to whomever could pay him more or who threatened his continued existence better. The mere fact that the Snitch was willing to mouth off to him like this without any fear whatsoever made it pretty clear that as far as Willy was concerned Xander was even less of a man than he was. Thing was he had proven that night with Jack O'Toole that he wasn't useless and that he was just as capable as any other normal human being in dealing with the supernatural world. Granted against a vampire of fifty years plus or a real bad ass demon he would have to leave to Buffy but he was far from helpless. With Willy's statement Xander became determined that before he left this bar not only would he have the information he was after but he would also leave the Snitch quaking in his boots.

"Maybe you're right Willy, maybe I am just a big waste of space." , Xander said while going through the motions of pondering something, "Then again I'm pretty sure most vamps look at Buffy and see nothing more than a short, weak, pathetic blonde."

With as much speed and accuracy as he could manage he withdrew one of the daggers he had brought with him and brought it down on a hand Willy had flat against the bar surface. The Snitch let out a yelp of shock and pain as the dagger pinned the man's hand to the bar and with his other hand Xander grabbed the affected hand at the wrist so that Willy couldn't pull it free or get a hold of the dagger. This attracted the attention of the rest of the bar patrons but none of them made a move to intervene since most of them were demons and most of them were actually enjoying the show.

"Now you have a choice to make Willy. You can either tell me what you know about these new players or you can wind up like the newbie vamps who see Buffy Summers as just another tasty treat." , Xander said as he twisted the dagger a bit for the right effect, "So what's it going to be?"

"Ahhhh! Man! You're a freakin' psycho Harris!" , Willy replied before the Dagger was twisted just a little bit more, "Ahhh! Fine! They been in town a little over two weeks! No one knows a lot about them except they ain't normal! One minute they're there and the next they ain't!"

"Why the lack of info?" , Xander asked letting his eyes carry the implied threat, "If they've been in town that long I figure you would have made some kind of pitch to them by now or at least found out where they've set up shop."

"Look I don't look into these things myself! I just listen to what the customers say and a few info brokers who sell me stuff!" , Willy said being completely honest both with what he was saying and the fear on his face, "Most of the demons are hanging back to see what they're up to! The humans who go looking don't usually come back!"

"Why? What happens to them?" Xander asked insistently threatening to twist the knife even more.

"I don't know! They probably wind up dead!" Willy said as he tried to think of something, anything, to appease the madman in front of him.

Xander looked at him, both his eyes and his body language, trying to determine if the Snitch was holding anything back or if he had actually spilled everything. Willy had likely been buying and selling info among other things ever since he opened this place up in Sunnydale. He doubted this was the first time someone has used such methods to force info out of the man and he had likely managed to bluff or bullshit his way through such interrogations. Still if the smell of piss was anything to go by Willy was telling the truth because no man afraid enough to lose control of his bladder could still lie to him. Pulling the Dagger out of the Snitch's hand, wiped it on Willy's sleeve and put it back in its sheath. He pulled a fifty-dollar bill out of his wallet and tossed it onto the table figuring that the guy at least deserved something for his trouble. That and the fact that it might give the Snitch more incentive not to try for any payback in the form of cops or demon hit-things coming to his place.

"Thanks for the info Willy." , Xander said as he made his way to the exit, "Next time don't be so slow to share. It'll be less painful for both of us."

Stepping into the daylight he was a little disappointed at the lack of info he had to show for his efforts but he was rather proud of the show he had managed to put on in there. Now that the annoyance at being considered a pathetic loser had worn off he was all but ready to sag against the wall in relief that he had managed to pull it off. He knew that none of the patrons of the bar were exactly loyal to Willy but he himself was a known member of the Slayer's crew. That made him a tempting target for any demon looking to hurt the Slayer either just for fun or as an opening shot for something bigger. In any case he was lucky to come out of that bar in one piece so it was probably a good idea to get going before the patrons wise up and start coming. He made it to one of the main streets of Sunnydale before he saw someone coming down the road that he really didn't want to get into an argument with at the moment. Apparently Buffy had gotten the same idea he had about where to go for information about the latest big bad on the block. The downside though would come into play when she found out that he had been doing the same thing at the same place without any back up.

_Man is she going to be mad when she talks to Willy!_ , Xander thought to himself as he quickly made himself scarce, _If she didn't like me handling one unknown thief by myself roughin' up Willy in his own place will really make her day._

Xander's Apartment, Thirty Minutes Later 

_Uh-oh! Looks like more trouble bothered to look in the phone for my address!_ , Xander thought to himself as he spotted a black Ford P.O.S parked outside his apartment building, _Wonder if I should be flattered or worried about getting all this attention?_

The old Xander that still remained inside of him told him to beat feet to Willow's house and hope they just went away. The current Xander though was bolstered by the his success at Willy's and the fact that if this 'attention' he was receiving lately spelled trouble for the future. Something more than the usual run of the mill baddies were showing up in Sunnydale, something the Scoobies had never had to face before. While he may be at a loss to explain how the Thief did it but he knew he hadn't been dreaming things when he had seen the perp's body blur last night. Somehow he had become as fast as if not faster than Buffy was when she was in her Slayer zone and everything was working at its peak in perfect synch with everything else. Add to that the presence of people who were either Feds or organized crime related and even he had to admit it was outside of the jurisdiction of the Slayer. Both Giles and Buffy had made it clear that they didn't hurt or kill humans under any circumstances and that such people were better left to the proper authorities. The only time they had violated this unwritten law was with the local PD when it became clear that they were idiots under the Mayor's control. Even then though they only dealt with the human's that practiced dark magic or were aiding the local demon population. Which meant if this was a purely human force coming against them or more precisely him than there was little the Scooby Gang could do to help him.

_Better face the music and see what the what is._ , Xander thought as he walked up to the door and opened it knowing that it would be open if there were Feds inside, _Hopefully they're here to tell me that they can take care of this Thief fella and that I don't have a thing to worry about._

As soon as he entered the apartment and laid eyes on the federal agents he felt a sudden and potent manifestation of the fight or flight impulse and that left him puzzled. The only other time Feds had ever shown up in Sunnydale had been to pick up the Invisible Girl of Sunnydale High School and he himself had not been present when they showed up. Despite that when he looked at the two federal agents in their impeccable black suits and pitch black glasses he couldn't help but feel as though he was in danger. They were not overly impressive in appearance in fact they took the whole Men In Black blend into your surroundings tactic to an extreme. The most unsettling thing though was the complete lack of any real emotion on their faces and the feeling that any supposed emotion that might appear there was an illusion. For a moment he wondered if they were robots like that one that had dated Buffy's Mom for awhile but discounted that since they didn't seem like saccharine sweet psycho killers. After all those kind of killers would be smiling at him right now trying to put him at ease until they could feed him placating drugged cookies. These guys were all business and didn't look like they had a laid back bone in their body and that if they tried to look laid back they might pull something.

"Mr. Harris. I am Agent Dalton and this is Agent Wright." , Dalton said with all the cheer of someone serving a court summons or rattling off a weather report on the radio, "We understand there was a break in at this apartment last night. We were wondering if you could answer a few questions."

"Sure but why does a simple B & E rate Feds? I mean you guys gotta have more important things to look into." Xander said as he took up a defensive position between the window he had broken but not boarded up or replaced and the door.

"Normally we would leave a break and enter case to the local authorities however this one is unique and thus has required our involvement." , Wright said as he seemed to take in the apartment as a whole, "Can you describe the man who broke into your apartment last night?"

Thinking back to what he could remember he replied "He was about your height Agent Dalton but looked like he had a face like Kevin Bacon. He was of fair to moderate build wearing a dark red trench coat, same color pants, black shoes and a black shirt. He also had dark shades kinda like yours but with a bit more coolness in the design."

The two agents looked at each other and nodded for some reason before Dalton said "Mr. Harris while I cannot divulge everything we know I can say that the man who broke into your home last night is a member of an international terrorist group we have been trying to stop for some time now. Why they might be interested in you I cannot say."

This caused all kinds of wheels to begin spinning in Xander's head as he tried to figure out what an international terrorist group might want with him. Since he was hardly an international figure and didn't make waves he was pretty sure he hadn't done anything to piss some group off either religiously or personally. That left the possibility that he had something they wanted and weren't willing to obtain by oh say **buying** it from him the legal way. After all he could honestly say that there was nothing in his possession that he wouldn't be willing to part with for a small sum of cash. After all he had depleted his savings account a great deal during his road trip across America and a little money wouldn't hurt. Still terrorist groups by their very nature were a greedy bunch as it took a great deal of money to bomb buildings and fund armies. He doubted they'd be willing to part with any amount of their blood money when they could just kill him and take what they wanted.

It was at the conclusion of this fact that Agent Wright stepped forward and said "Until we can ascertain what it is they want from you Mr. Harris we recommend that you do not engage in any frivolous activities. Go to work and then come home. Here is my card, if anything else happens please call me immediately."

Taking the card from the federal agent he inspected it to see just what branch of the government the man belonged to but what he saw surprised him. While it did bear several of the marks and words one would expect a federal law enforcement ID to have it did not specify an actual agency or bureau. Looking up at the agents he wondered for a moment if they were fakes but if they were that they were going to great lengths to appear genuine. They did not however stick around to allow him to scrutinize them further and so with a simple not in his direction they left the apartment, got into their car and drove off to where ever they had set up shop. The Zeppo was getting a bit nervous at all this attention that was suddenly being paid to him and for a moment he considered just making a run for it. After all if he put some distance between himself and Sunnydale maybe the Thief and his people would lose him leaving the Feds with nothing more to do than go home. He shook his head at that believing that if the Thief and his people could track down a proverbial needle in a haystack like him to Sunnydale then there was no where he could hide. He also doubted that the Feds would allow a potential tool in their fight to take down this terrorist group slip away without some kind of fight.

_In other words I'm screwed if I do run and I'm pretty much screwed if I stay put._ , Xander thought as he plopped down onto his couch to rest, _Well with a little luck my own personal deep throat will fill in a few blanks tomorrow night._

Giles' Apartment, The Next Morning 

"So G-Man! Any news on who the creep was who trashed my place?" Xander asked as he strolled into the former Watcher and Librarian's apartment.

What met him however was a group showing emotions that ranged from anger to concern to outright worry in the case of one formerly mousy little redhead. It was Buffy who was currently glaring at him like he had just insulted her fashion sense and luck with men in the most evil way possible. Giles was the one showing concern but his look was a bit more recognizable as it was the same look the ex-Watcher had given him before the gang had tried to place him fray adjacent in High School. Willow, his Willow, was probably worried that he had once more gotten himself into something dangerous and was willing to do anything to keep him safe regardless of how it violated the guy code. It only took him a moment to realize what he had done in the past twenty-four hours to cause them to look like this and silently promised to pay Willy a visit later. The Snitch had obviously told Buffy about his little visit and predictably the Slayer was mad that he had done her job for her and had put himself in mortal danger for no good reason. True Giles and Willow were probably more concerned than angry at him since walking into a demon bar was not the smartest or safest thing to do in this town.

"None so far Xander although I would wager that you know that since you paid a visit to Willy's yesterday afternoon." Giles said in a tone that while not accusatory did make it clear that the man wasn't pleased with the reckless action.

"What were you thinking Xander? Were you thinking?" , Buffy exclaimed with her arms emphasizing her displeasure, "You don't go into a demon bar and throw your weight around like that! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Hey! You do it all the time! Besides Willy's a spineless chicken, I could beat the crap out of him with both hands tied behind my back!" Xander retorted defending his actions against her blunt assault.

"I go there and do it because I'm the Slayer! None of the demons in there can touch me and Willy might be a spineless coward but a lot of demons owe him favors!" Buffy shot back making her status as the Chosen One the basis of why she can enter the bar looking for information without being too concerned.

"Look Buffy! I admit that maybe I didn't put too much thought into it when I went in but everything turned out alright in the end." , Xander stated as he tried to reign in his temper and voice his position more rationally, "Besides the guy that broke into my place was human and very good at what he did if his act last night was any hint. That means he's out of your reach. You said it yourself, the Slayer deals with demon and supernatural threats not humans and everyday criminals. Let's say you do go after him and somehow manage to capture him, then what?"

"We tie him up and hand him over to the police." Buffy replied quickly as though it was the most obvious thing in the universe.

"Right! They might be getting better than the days of dumbness from when the Mayor ran things but they're still pretty thick headed." , Xander shot back a bit amazed at her brief lapse into stupidity, "Even if they were competent police officers they wouldn't be able to hold this guy."

"How do you know that?" Giles asked as he seemed to realize that the Zeppo might have come into some information they did not have.

Kicking himself for unintentionally slipping he replied "When I got back to my apartment last night some Feds were waiting for me. Apparently this Thief guy is important enough to rate their special attention so they said they'd be sticking around for awhile."

As he expected Willow's stress level shot up a level as did Giles' concern for him rose along with it once they realized what this new bit of information meant. Buffy's protectiveness also went up which probably meant that for the next few days he would have a short blonde shadow following him around. This would certainly complicate matters if he wanted to make the meeting tonight with Mr. Mysterious which meant he would have to start thinking up ways to out think her.

"Federal agents you say? Did they say what this man was wanted for?" Giles asked as he took off his glasses and began to clean them due to a familiar nervous habit.

"No, just that they'd be sticking around until they found out what exactly this guy is after." He replied being perfectly honest with them.

"Well then we leave it to them. They'll catch the guy and send him up the creek or whatever." , Buffy said sounding happy that she wouldn't have to deal with this guy herself, "Until then Xander just consider me your fashionable Slayer bodyguard."

_Oh Joy!_ Xander thought as he did his best not to roll his eyes at the image of Buffy following him around trying to remain invisible to everyone while at the same time ready to step in and help him on a moments notice.

It also was a problem in that it would make it more difficult to reach his meeting place tonight. He was still a bit leery of the unknown voice that claimed to have information concerning the Thief and his group but it was the only option he had short of waiting for the other shoe to drop. That would be a bad thing for his friends since they were more used to dealing with claws and blades than bullets and bombs and that meant he had to deal with this on his own in the hopes that they could be spared any trouble. He knew he was probably doing the wrong thing taking their choice of whether or not to be involved away from them but they were important to him. They were his family, the only family that mattered in place of the godforsaken one he had been born to where neither mother or father lived up to their responsibilities as parents. As such he would do anything to keep them from harm even if it meant that he had to bite the big one himself to do it.

_Not that I'm eager to die or anything._ , he thought with some levity, _after all tomorrow night is the season finale of the Simsons and I can't miss that!_

"Alright but just so you know I'm going to need some private time every now and then." He stated wiggling his eyebrows in an exaggerated manner.

To this they all rolled their eyes, some in disgust while others did so in barely restrained laughter.

"No problem Xander. I'm sure since Anya left you've had to take on some extra chores and responsibilities." , Buffy said sarcastically making the double entendre obvious, "Just don't think that just because I'm your bodyguard that you ask me to take on some of those responsibilities."

Xander was at once both angry and oddly intrigued by the images that Buffy had just provided for him and for the moment remained silent about it. On the one hand Buffy had just thrown in his face the fact that his one potential girlfriend since Cordy had left him and thus implied that the vengeance demon found him lacking. On the other hand though was the image of he and Buffy in some rather arousing positions as well as providing some help in certain areas. He might no longer have ideas about Buffy and him getting together romantically in the future but still she did provide him with a few happy thoughts from time to time. In any case though it didn't change the fact that she would be watching him like a hawk until she was satisfied that the threat to him was over and done with which neither of them knew how long that would be. He had hope that this would just be a short blip on their radar of the weird and things would go back to the way they usually are with the vampires and the demons.

"Sure thing Buff! To each their own as they say." He retorted and held in a chuckle at the slight bit of crimson that colored her face for a moment.

Late Afternoon, Quitting Time, Outside the Construction site 

_I guess it **was** too much to hope for that Buffy would be too tied up in classes to watch me 24/7._ , Xander thought as he spotted the blonde Slayer waiting for him outside of the walls of the construction site.

He had come in to work today to go over the plans for the next stage in the construction of the apartment building they were putting together. The basic foundation was laid along with the underground parking area so it was now time to start constructing above ground. On the side though he had looked discreetly online using the computer in the foreman's trailer for info on notable terrorist groups. Agent Dalton had said which group the Thief belonged to only that the Feds had been after this particular group for some time. How long 'some time' was in the eyes of the government was anyone's guess but if he had to make a guess than he would speculate at least five years plus. It wasn't easy to find the information he was after given that most of the specifics he was after were probably under top level classified for no ones eyes only security. Fortunately he had picked up a few tricks from watching Willow hack into the town government databases looking for info on the Mayor. It had gotten him slightly farther but he still wound up getting tossed out of the systems he wanted to get into and had almost gotten the company computer fried. Fortunately Willow had told him some of the signs to look out for when hacking to find out whether or not you had been caught and were about to receive some tainted files. After one serious close call though he had decided to call it quits computer hacking wise and just do the work he had come here to do before going home.

Unfortunately that left him with Buffy waiting for him outside of work and him with only a few hours to think up a way of getting rid of her and getting to his meeting. Fortunately though his friends always claimed that he had an overactive imagination so he was fairly certain that he would be able to come up with something useful. After all Buffy was hardly the brightest bulb in the bunch and she relied more on Giles to come up with any real plans than trying to think up ones on her own. He almost chuckled as he walked up to the Slayer as he took into account the fact that while she may have the edge on him physically he was likely smarter than her intellectually. After all despite what some people might think of him he was actually smarter than his D average said he was and that if he didn't have to worry his abusive parents or helping fight the good fight his grades would actually be higher than they were at the time of graduation. Unfortunately being smart and getting good grades did not necessarily go together like most people think they do. In any case he was fairly confident that he could out think Buffy and get away in time to meet with his anonymous source.

"So anything interesting happen at work today?" Buffy asked as she fell into step behind him.

"Naw! Just some paper work and planning for the next part of the apartment building." He replied as his attention was divided between the conversation and his own inner planning.

There was a pause in the conversation for a moment and Xander looked back to see the Slayer oddly introspective and contemplative as if she was trying to find just the right way to say something. It was odd because for the most part it was getting her to be quiet that was the problem and what irritated most vampires that attacked her to no end. Stopping and waiting for her to spit out whatever it was that was bothering her he began to wonder if there was something more to her lately than the snide remarks and the insults to his competency. Sure they were friends and all and he would not exchange her for anything or anyone in the world but still even he had to admit that there were times when he thought she was little better than the Cordettes had been. In the last while since he had been attacked though he believed a cross between her inner bitch and her overprotective Slayer self had come out. He didn't really blame her with the combination of Watcher Council bullshit and relatively unknown territory she traveled in daily probably making her side with caution overkill where normal people were concerned. Still it made him want to hit her sometimes with a very big lead pipe but instead he simply weathered the storm and hoped for the best.

"Xander … look … I know I said some pretty bad things to you lately…" , Buffy stated as she seemed to pretty much be making this up as she went along, "It's just these past three years it seems that things have been getting more and more dangerous here on the Hellmouth. It's like some cheesy TV series where the writers have to come up with a big bad that's even more evil than the one last season. I'm just afraid that something might finally come along that I won't be able to protect you from and I just couldn't take losing my Xander-Shaped friend."

It was pretty much a condensed version of Willow-becoming-Buffy-babble and it touched him in the same way that a friend of his cared about him so much that the thought of losing him sent their minds into a bit of chaos. The idea she had about the whole TV series bit was of course way out there but he understood and to a certain degree agreed with it. After all they had gone from just one Master Vampire to three Master Vampires and a Judge to a Mayor ascending into a pure blood king kong sized demon snake. At the rate they were going it was only a matter of time before the only thing left of Sunnydale was a large crater in the ground. This mind set kinda worked for him in that she wouldn't be too cheesed at him when he ditched her later and hopefully would just settle for a slap on the shoulder without the extra Slayer oomph.

"Look Buff, I know that being the Slayer isn't easy and I'd like to think that me, Willow and Giles help to make things a little bit easier for you." , Xander said as he grabbed he comfortingly by the shoulders, "Just try to understand that you can't protect me from life and life is never one hundred percent safe."

"I know the world isn't safe and I don't want to keep you from living your life but I'm not about to stand by and let you get hurt!" Buffy stated with such resolution in her voice that he knew there would be no talking her out of her position.

"Okay how about we compromise; you promise to stop being so over protective and I'll do my best to stay out of the really dangerous situations. How's that?" he asked as he sought a compromise to their two positions that they could both live with.

She nodded reluctantly in agreement and with that decision they proceeded to walk in the direction of his apartment. While he was walking he was sad that he would most likely be damaging this newfound peace when he skipped out later on without her knowing. Still it had to be done whether she would understand or agree with the reasons later on or not.

_One way or another I'm gonna have some serious explaining to do tomorrow morning._ Xander thought to himself as his mind imagined how angry they would all be with him later.

Unknown Location, Same Time 

"Report." Commanded Agent Dalton as he looked at his partner Agent Wright.

"Mr. Harris used some amateur hacking methods in an attempt to access some of our more classified files." , Wright said in an emotionless tone, "Most likely tricks he learned from Ms. Rosenburg."

"Was he able to access the files on the group we are investigating?" Dalton asked with come concern filtering into his voice.

"No. However covert observation of his behavior since the incident indicates that he intends to take matters into his own hands." , Agent Wright replied efficiently, "He has made inquiries in another areas to ascertain the identity of the intruder to his apartment and his location. A confrontation would seem imminent."

"Most likely what they desire if Mr. Harris is indeed the objective." , Dalton commented before asking, "Should we intervene should they attempt to acquire him?"

"No. This is a matter for his own people to deal with. We must deal with the larger threat of the organization itself." , Wright stated in the negative, "Contact their nearest craft and inform them of the situation and most likely scenario involving Mr. Harris."

"Understood." Dalton said as he raised his right hand to his communication gear's ear piece.

Then without a word both seemed to vanish leaving behind the bewildered forms of two humans who were no doubt wondering 'How the hell did I get here?'.

The Street's of Sunnydale, 11:40 p.m 

_Well I think that an hour or so of chewing out followed by death glare number 5 is about the best I can hope for when all of this is over with._ Xander thought to himself as he warily proceeded down the street towards the church that his source had mentioned.

By the time eleven p.m had come around he had finally set upon a plan to distract Buffy so he could slip out and get to his meeting on time. In retrospect he was surprised that such a simple plan would prove so effective in distracting the veteran Slayer long enough for him to slip out his bedroom window. All it had taken was a call for a pizza delivery from a restaurant based on Sunnydale U's campus and the arrival of a suitable male delivery guy. With Buffy still on the rebound after Angel jumping ship and heading to LA it didn't take much to get her to start talking and flirting with the delivery guy. He had managed to slip out of the conversation saying that he was going to get his wallet in his room to pay for the pizzas. In fact he was just going there to open the window and shimmy down a rope made of bed sheets and knew by the time Buffy finally said goodbye to her new crush he would be too far away to be tracked down.

He hated to play on her emotional and relationship troubles like that but it had been the only thing he could think of given what he had to work with at the time. He knew that there was no way he could be strong enough to knock her unconscious physically and he didn't know enough about Slayer physiology to slip a mickey into her drink that would do the job right. After all it had taken a special concoction on the part of the Watcher's council to find a way to just temporarily take away her Slayer abilities. He did not have the time to figure out what it would take to knock her out cold for a few hours. Besides if the Thief tried to break into his place again he didn't want to leave Buffy completely defenseless and he knew she would need to be at peak to keep up with this guy. He still couldn't get over the blurring motion the guy had managed to pull off and it was causing a buzzing in the back of his head that just wouldn't go away. It was like a splinter in his brain that he just couldn't get rid of no matter how hard he tried to figure out how he had done it.

As he spotted the bell tower of the church in question he double-checked the weapons he had brought with him. In one coat pocket he had two grenades, one flash/bang and one standard go boom grenade, which he had brought in the hopes of taking any uninvited guests by surprise or covering his escape should he need to make one. In the other coat pocket he had a standard police issue firearm which he had acquired after one of the local cops had gotten killed by a 'gang member on PCP'. He had two spare clips for it just in case things got nasty with one being normal bullets and the other being hollow points just in case he needed to get past some body armor. Strapped to his back was his favorite battle axe which he had become quite good with since it was the only thing that he had managed to use with any skill that was almost a guaranteed kill in one shot. He had a cross and a wooden stake on hand as well just in case he ran across any vamps out for an evening meal and thought he looked extra tasty. With his luck though it would probably be some kind of female were-cat demon looking to bed him and then eat him. Still he figured he was as prepared as he could hope to be given that he didn't know what to expect when he arrived at the church. If the worst happened than at least he could be reasonably sure to take out some of them out with him when he went down for the final time.

When he got within eyesight of the front doors to the church he noticed two people acting like guards standing on either side and a moment after he noticed them they noticed him. They were rather unusually attired, at least in his opinion, wearing black dusters of a style he didn't recognize and immediately labeled as being either home made or expensive designer made coats. The rest of their clothes were of different shades of the same color with not one scrap of bright cloth among the entire bunch. He couldn't tell if they were armed or not but he decided to assume that they were since believing otherwise would likely get him killed if things took a turn for the nasty. When he came within ten feet of them they didn't even ask for identification but instead simply opened the door to the church and let him walk inside. This seemed odd but he dismissed it believing that whoever his deep throat was had just described him or shown a picture to let them know who to let in and who to keep out.

Once inside of the church he was surprised to find it in relatively good condition given the smoking skeleton it had been after Buffy had set it on fire during the battle with the Tarakens, Spike and Druisilla. Off hand he recalled vaguely that some off beat religious organization had bought it six months ago and funded the restoration of the church. While his critical construction worker's eyes could still pick out a few places where some repairs needed to be done he had to say that whoever had been hired to do the job were pretty good at their job. Standing in front of the alter was a person who at first he mistook for a man but when the person turned around it was revealed to be a woman. Her hair was short but curly and looked to be about Joyce's age if he had to make a guess and she was dressed in a black men's business suit as if in defiance of the idea that clothing choices should be restricted to ones god given gender. She was fairly tall but with a slim lanky build and he had to say that if it were not for a few telling features here and there he wouldn't be surprised at all if she was often mistaken for a man. It wierded him out a little bit but when his mind compared her to what he had seen on the hellmouth since meeting Buffy he found that this was pretty tame compared to vamps, mantis ladies and vengeance demons.

"Ah, Mr. Harris, I am glad you agreed to come." , the woman said as she motioned to a rather plush chair to her right indicating that it was for him, "Given what happened to you I was not sure if you would come given the suspicious nature of my offer."

Xander could tell almost right off the bat that she was English if not by the accent in her voice then by the rather long winded and proper English way in which she spoke. This set him on edge a bit as it warned him that these people might be members of the Watcher's Council looking to eliminate the people they viewed responsible for Buffy veering off the path of the Slayer that they had laid out for her to follow. Like Giles he held no illusions that Buffy's way of doing things was immensely different from what Travers wanted or would condone. While the bulk of this independent way of thinking lay squarely on the Slayer's shoulders Quentin no doubt believed that some of it rested with Giles, Willow and himself for encouraging and supporting this way of thinking. When added to Buffy's summary resignation from the Watcher's Council prior to their defeat of the Mayor and he knew that sooner or later some kind of action would be taken by the Brits overseas. Perhaps this was it, perhaps they intended to make an example out of him and give Buffy a certain amount of incentive to return to their service. It did not speak well of their intelligence since harming or killing him would only provoke her into further retaliation and violence from which few could survive.

"I needed answers and you seemed to have them so I decided to take my chances." Xander replied while keeping an eye on his surroundings for any tweed wearing idiots trying to be inconspicuous.

"I assure you that we have no wish to harm you. In fact it is quite the opposite." , the woman said trying to be the gracious proper British hostess, "The person who broke into your apartment was a member of your government, a scout meant to verify where you lived and apprehend you if possible."

"What did he want with me? You said he wasn't there to pocket my baseball card collection but me. Why?" Xander asked with a bit of levity as he waited to see if they got his humor.

"Despite what you might think Mr. Harris the governments of the world have known about the existence of the supernatural and the demonic for a long time." , the still unnamed woman said as she began to answer him, "Up until the second world war though they have not had the technology or the skill to do more than keep such phenomena under control or terminate them."

"For the past fifty years though work has been done to try and harness these forces both for commercial and military ends. In the case of the military it was harnessed for the purpose of creating a super soldier that could meet the more dangerous demons on a level playing field. Essentially they wanted to create their own version of the Slayer without the restriction of gender and age. There have been numerous versions of this super soldier program over the years but for the most part they have ended in failure due to one unseen variable or another. However in the late eighties a Dr. Wachowski hit upon a breakthrough wherein he could enable a test subject to somehow defy the laws of physics and nature. While this was considered a monumental breakthrough there was one flaw that made it a limited success. Those who received the 'upgrades' experienced extremely shortened life spans and died within months of undergoing the process seemingly of old age."

"While this is all interesting an X-Files-Mulder conspiracy way what does that have to do with me?" Xander asked indicating the need to get to the point and in a hurry.

Annoyed a bit at the interrupting the lady answered "It involves you because three years ago there was an accident of an unknown nature in the complex where the good doctor was working wiping out almost everything concerning the process he had invented. From what we have been able to discern they have managed to reconstruct most of his work from various reports and samples taken from the few remaining 'prototypes' still alive. However there is one thing that they lack in order to move forward in their research and that is the core formula for a chemical the doctor had made to make the rest of the process possible. They had all but given up hope until they learned through their agents in this town that for one night trick or treaters had turned into their costumes."

"In particular you had turned into a solider, a lieutenant if I recall the reports correctly, with all the memories and skills of that person. What you might not know is that the army fatigues that you incorporated into your costume once belonged to a guard that had been stationed to personally guard the good doctor. The two were rarely out of each others sight for more than a few moments and as Dr. Wachowski frequently liked to talk a lot the lieutenant would likely have heard all sorts of things."

"Like the core formula you were talking about." , Xander stated as he completed the line of logic that the woman had laid out for him, "Look I barely remember anything from that night about the soldier's personal life much less what happened on the job. The only things that stuck was a working knowledge of most military fire arms and perhaps a few basic protocols and procedures. Everything else has gone by-by along with the rest of the spell."

"We suspected as much when we discovered the reason why they chose to come after you. However they seem to be of the mindset that while you may consciously not be aware or cognizant of the knowledge you obtained that it might still reside in your sub-conscious in some form they can use." The woman stated calmly as she put the final piece of the puzzle into place.

So some idiots in the government are fiddling with the mojo and the monsters to make their own little wind up soldiers and they think the Xan-Man held the key in his melon to making it work again. Unfortunately that made him even more uneasy as he clued into just how valuable this formula could be to just about anyone if those people could get their hands on the rest of the experiment info. Looking at the woman and a few other people who had moved into his field of vision since the explanations began he wondered if these people were after the same thing as the government was. After all who wouldn't want to have the means to create someone like the Thief, who he presumed was one of the prototypes yet to die, given the ass whuppin' he had been dealt. He decided to try and see if he could get the answers he was looking for out of simple questions that asked for some very specific answers. If they tried to dodge the questions or outright lie he would use the flash/bang grenade he had brought with him and try to make a break for it.

"… And what exactly do you plan on doing about it? Assuming of course you don't want the secrets to this process yourself." , Xander asked deciding to start with a sharp strike to shatter any façade they might have in place, "Oh and while we're at it what's your name?"

Surprisingly the woman actually seemed pleased at his question and answered "It is our intention to eliminate this information before they get the chance to examine your mind for it. It shouldn't be a problem and we already have equipment set up for just that purpose. As for your latter question my name is Gabriel."

From what he could tell of the way she acted during the answer he was fairly sure she was telling the truth for the most part but she was also being vague in certain areas as well. She said that they would act to eliminate the information that was being sought after by the government but she was a little vague on the 'how' part of that solution. 'Eliminate' could mean anything from ripping the information out of his head to killing him on the spot in order to ensure that the Feds didn't get it. Then again he could just be completely paranoid and they could genuinely wish to help him and protect him from the less than honorable sections of the government. It was a sticky choice, to allow them to help him or to let his paranoia do the talking and make a run for the door before he was completely boxed in. Given that these were people he didn't know and this was Sunnydale he decided to err on the side of caution and let paranoia save him from trouble once again. Slowly, carefully, he rose to his feet without making it look as though he was getting ready to accept their offer knowing that if he acted like a crazy person and ran they would be all over him in moments.

"Well Gabriel it's nice to see that some people aren't afraid to take a stand against the government." , he said as he slipped a hand into the pocket where the flash/bang was stored, "As for your offer I'm afraid that I'm going to have to say no. I'm sure you know your stuff but I have this little rule about having strangers poke around inside of my head. I mean you just know they never clean up after themselves when they're done."

With a swift movement he yanked out the grenade and quickly pulled the pin out before lobbing it in Gabriel's general direction and making a dash for the door. He was about three steps into his run before the most unusual thing he had ever seen in real life happened and for a moment he was wondering if he was actually back at his apartment fast asleep. For right there beside him in mid-air as if it were racing him to the door was the very flash grenade he had just lobbed in the direction of his would be captors. Instinct was the only thing that saved him from the brunt of the explosion as he just barely managed to raise his arms in front of his face as the grenade went off. All at once his sense of hearing and sight were overwhelmed rendering him both blind and deaf to the world around him. He knew that the effects of the grenade would only be temporary and would wear off fairly quickly but given his current predicament it couldn't happen soon enough. Deciding that taking his gun out and shooting it in random directions wouldn't get the job done he pulled his battle axe from it's hiding place underneath his jacket. Pulling it into the ready position he relied on the only thing that might tell him what was going on and from where the attacks would come from and that was the vibrations in the floor.

_It might be a long shot but when you think about it long shots have been the only thing keeping me in one piece so far._ Xander thought to himself as he strained his sense of touch to feel the footfalls of Gabriel and her people.

Unfortunately his amazing ability to survive just about any fight seemed to have finally run out as he felt the axe all but torn from his grasp without even the slightest hint that the one who had done it had gotten close enough to do it. He was about to reach for his sharp pointy stake but before he could even begin to move his right arm in the right direction he was seized from all sides. He couldn't tell exactly how many pairs of arms had a hold of him but he was fairly certain that it was more than he could normally handle. This of course didn't stop him from flailing about and doing his best to be the most uncooperative captive possible as well as getting a kick in where he could. This caused them to retaliate a bit rougher than they otherwise might have as they seemed to drag him back to Gabriel who seemed to be mightily pissed off from what he could make out of the blur ahead of him. Roughly they slammed him back into the chair he had recently vacated and held him down from behind making it impossible for him to move around more than a few inches in any direction.

"Sorry Mr. Harris but I'm afraid that no is not a valid answer in this situation." , Gabriel said as she walked right up to him, "Bring me the red pill!"

One of the few people not occupied with keeping him pinned down walked up to her and handed her something although it was too small for him to see. Still with a name like 'red pill' he had a feeling that the name was meant to be taken literally rather than metaphorically like the name of some kind of torture or freaky mind control thing. His suspicions were confirmed as one of the people holding him changed from his shoulders and went for the head as it was forced back and his mouth forced open. With all the strength he could must he tried to either close his mouth or turn it away from Gabriel who was trying to get something into his mouth but these guys were stronger than vamps. With vampires, especially the new ones, you had a little leeway in trying to wrench your head one way or the other. True that probably had to do with the fact that the vamps weren't overly picky about which side of your neck they bit into when they fed. In the case of these people however there was only one way they were going to get whatever it is they wanted into him.

"Just let it happen Mr. Harris! One way or another we are going to get what we want and there's nothing you can do!" Gabriel said as frustration was managing to cut through her cool English demeanor.

"That's Xander to you and I'm quite enjoying making this as hard as I can for you!" Xander replied as he tried to kick her in the shin to make her drop the object in her hand so he could then squish it underfoot.

With a growl she did something he hadn't expected and punched him, **HARD**, in the gut causing all of his strength to leave him for a moment and give her the chance she was looking for. Try as he might to keep his mouth shut he was temporarily helpless as she forced the pill down into his mouth and forced his jaw shut. He could feel it knock around inside of his mouth but thanks to some deft manipulations with his tongue he managed to keep it pinned down beneath it. This last for about two minutes before they played dirty and clamped his mouth and nose shut so that he couldn't breath no doubt hoping that in his desperation to breath he would swallow the pill. Unfortunately they were right on the money with this one as despite his best efforts to keep calm and rationally resist their efforts he couldn't keep himself from panicking. With a little jerk in the wrong direction and no control over his involuntary responses he felt the pill slide down his throat and fell still as a knew fear washed over him. What was the red pill? What was it supposed to do to him? What was so damned special about him that he was suddenly rating this kind of attention?

"Well **Mr. Harris** now that that has been accomplished all that is left for you to do is enjoy the ride." , Gabriel said with an arrogant smirk on her face, "Take him into the next room and hook him up to the equipment. We'll need it to get a lock on his position so that the Scythe can get into position for the pick up."

Still slightly stunned by what had just happened and what might still be to come he was in a daze as they dragged him from the chair he had recently occupied to a side room in the church off of the main room. They had almost reached the door when the sound of shattering glass filled the room and startled him out of his stupor as he turned to see what was going on. What he saw was something he wasn't sure whether he should be cheering about or simply adding it to the already mounting terror inside of him. Kneeling in a crouched position usually reserved for sprinters or those who have fallen from a great height was a woman dressed all in red with light brown skin and hair done up in dreadlocks. The dark shades covering her eyes immediately made him think that she might be a Fed but with their strict dress code it was more likely she was just someone else after him for as yet unexplained reasons. He silently sent up a prayer to whatever deity he had somehow offended in a previous life to deserve this and hoped that that same deity would take some pity on him right now.

"Niobe!" growled Gabriel as she looked upon the African American woman who was slowly standing up as if for dramatic effect.

"Gabriel." Niobe said emotionlessly as if the blonde wasn't even worth a bitter response.

"You're too late! He's already taken the red pill!" , Gabriel said as she moved from the head of the group heading towards the door to a showdown position facing Niobe, "There's nothing you can do to keep him from us now!"

"We'll see about that." Niobe said and without another word she charged the suit wearing blonde in a burst of speed so fast Xander knew he was dealing with another person just like the Thief.

"Get him hooked up!" was all Gabriel said as she charged herself in order to meet her adversary head on.

He was kept from seeing any more of the battle as the merry minions as he had come to refer to them as dragged him into the room they had been heading towards. Their progress was halted as an Asian man with a goatee and mustache was standing not ten feet in front of them amidst four dead bodies that had obviously had an unfriendly encounter with a gun. Before any of the four bruisers who were manhandling them could move the Asian man raised both his arms and opened fire with his twin berettas hitting them all square in the head dropping them in an instant. This unfortunately dropped him unceremoniously to the ground which was shockingly soft despite being made of stone but when he looked down to see if he had landed on anyone he saw something he would not soon forget. The bottom inch of his legs and butt that were in contact with the floor looked to be stuck in the floor like landing in a shallow puddle of goo. The frightening part though was the fact that the goo seemed to have a mind of its own and was slowly beginning to cover his body.

"What the **HELL**?" Xander yelled as he jumped to his feet with a layer of the goo still on his legs and still attempting to cover his body.

"Damn." , the Asian man said before pulling out a cell phone and hitting the speed dial, "Sparks. The tracer program has already been initiated and his perceptions are altering at an accelerated rate."

Sparks, whomever that was on the other side of the phone connection spat out some kind of reply causing the Asian man to move over to a weird combination of machines and wires. It looked like someone had taken the entire contents of a pawn shop and connected them via wires to each other in a rather haphazard fashion. The Asian man took one of the cables and disconnected it at one end before connecting it to his cell phone at the bottom. Once that was done he strode over to Xander and guided him to an old barber's chair and sat him down as quickly yet gently as possible.

"W-what are y-you doing?" Xander managed to get out as the shock and fear of being covered with the equivalent of liquid stone had him almost paralyzed with fear as he knew not if it was going to kill him or just freeze him in place.

"I don't have a lot of time to explain this to you. Suffice it to say that the pill they gave you started a process which I cannot stop." , the Asian Man said as he began to connect suction cups with wires to various parts of his head and torso, "If I do not complete the process than there is a very good chance that you will die. Do not worry though, you will not fall into their hands, our ship is already in position, you will be safe."

"What? You mean you guys are all aliens?" Xander exclaimed as his legs and half his torso was already covered in the liquid stone.

"You might say that." Came Niobe's voice as she strode into the room looking a little worse for wear.

"Gabriel?" the Asian man asked as he continued to prepare and operate the equipment.

"She managed to get to a hard line before I could finish her." , Niobe replied as she began to help her friend operate the equipment, "How's it lookin' Ghost?"

"It's going to be close. If we had come in any later he would have been beyond our help." The man called Ghost replied as he looked into some kind of viewer kind of like the thing Spock looked into to take examine sensor readings in the original Star Trek series.

Nodding at this Niobe took out her own cell phone and after pressing the speed dial button placed it to her right ear and said "Sparks? How's it coming?"

She was silent as the reply came over her phone and seemed displeased by something this Sparks said before returning her face to its usual stoic form. Xander was unable to take anything more in as his attention was more focused on the liquid which was mere moments away from climbing up his neck. It was not a situation he was happy with and it made him wish all the more that he had though to take Buffy along for this meeting. While it would still have been one helluva slobber knocker for the both of them to find a way to get outta here it would definitely be better than this. **HELL**! Anything would have been better than the mess he was in right now and his only hope was that these two people , Niobe and Ghost, were actually on his side.

As his heart began to increase its tempo to alarming levels he heard Ghost say "We're going to need a lock soon Sparks. He's dangerously close to popping."

As the liquid reached his chin Xander was all but certain that this was it, that his life was over and the next stop for him was the good ol' pearly gates. Knowing his luck though he was probably going to have to ace a written exam before they would let him inside heaven. He was about moments away from swallowing a stone smoothy before everything, every one of the five senses he had, went out completely. The strange thing about it was that it wasn't the slow fade to black that one would expect from losing consciousness. No this was more like someone just reached inside his head a flicked all the switches into the off position or like a TV that had the power cord yanked quickly from the wall.

_Hopefully things won't get too weirder._ Xander thought to himself as he lost the ability to form a coherent thought.


	2. The Real World Really!

Note: First I want to say thanks to the readers of my fanfic for their numerous reviews of my work. It is your reviews that help to motivate me to continue with a work. As for the question mentioned in the review of MysticSuperSaiyanGohan this story is set eighteen years after the final moments of The Matrix : Revolutions. As for why I chose this particular number of years to separate the movies from the time of this fic I will only say that it will become clear in time. The Power Plant, The Real World Outside of the Matrix 

When his senses finally came back online what he saw almost made him wish he was back in that church with the stone goo crawling up his legs.

He did not have a lot of time to consider everything his senses were taking in but given what he had seen and felt in those first few seconds that was no surprise. He was naked, immersed in some kind of liquid that was not water due to its sliminess and he had numerous tubes and wires hooked into holes in his body along with a tube going down his throat that was threatening to make him gag. Thrashing around looking for a way out he quickly found that the surface directly above him seemed like plastic wrap with how easy it was to push against so push he did, **HARD**. As soon as his hands succeeded it tearing a hole in the roof of whatever he was it he tried to pull it apart until it was big enough to for him to fit through but he found himself weak as a kitten. Even in the soup his body was immersed in he had experienced difficulty in moving around in there as though there were great invisible weights restricting his movement. Eventually though he succeeded and the first thing he did was fight against the gagging long enough to pull the tube out of his mouth completely. It was almost painful to do it and once out he coughed uncontrollably before throwing up a bit before he was able to regain control of his body and its functions. With the immediate crisis of confinement and a garden hose down his throat out of the way he had an easier time taking stock of his predicament.

_O-kay! We've gone right past weirder to downright kookey!_ Xander thought as he took in the dark and spooky scene out in front of him.

It looked like a horror film's favorite backdrop of storm clouds and desolate wastelands mixed with Sci-Fi tech from hell. His pod was one among many arrayed around massive columns, hundreds and thousands of them going high into the sky and down into the ground. Crawling and in some cases flying around were insect like machines that were either 'tending' the pods if you could call it that. It was like some sort of mechanized monitoring system with enough bots flying around to make it clear to him that this set up was much larger than what he could see. Arcs of electricity went back and forth between the various columns and for a moment he was afraid of getting shocked by a fairly large amount of voltage but then something else grabbed his attention. One of the robots he had seen flying around was on the approach and as each second passed it was clear to him that what it was on the approach towards was him. He looked back and forth on either side of his pod for some way to get the hell out of there but not only were there not any ladders for him to use but the tubes that were attached to him were on tight. He couldn't move more than a few feet in any direction and certainly not enough for him to get out of the pod. Backing away as far as he could from the robot that had come to a hovering position in front of his pod he couldn't help but wonder where he was and how he got there.

_One minute some guy named Ghost is hooking me up to an electrician's worst nightmare and the next I find myself someplace that belongs in Hellraiser 2023._ , Xander thought as he waited for the robot to either kill him or stuff him back in the pod, _All we need now is ol' Pinhead and the Chatterer to show up with the chains with hooks on them to tear me apart._

However Pinhead and Chatterer would have to wait their turn as with all the speed a machine can have a mechanical arm shot out from beneath the robot grabbing Xander by the neck. Fearful that the machine was going to snap his handsome neck he reached up and tried to pry the arm off but his strength hadn't come back one iota since he came to. He could feel and hear another arm other than the one holding him in a death grip reach around to the back of his head and figured that the tin can wanted to be original and cave in the back of his skull. However it was when he focuses his attention to the back of his head that he noticed an odd sensation there as though someone had taken a plunger with a rope attached and stuck it on the back of his head. He had less than a second to think on this before the second arm latched into the plunger stuck on the back of his head and pain filled his consciousness moments later. It was like attempting to walk on an ankle you had recently sprained or opening an old wound that delved deep into your body and multiplying the pain one would expect a hundred times over. He was barely aware of it when it stopped for all his nerves and senses were awash in a sea of an after image of pain that he would just as soon have become nothing more than a memory. It was all he could do to keep from falling back into the goo he had only recently emerged from but it seemed that whatever demon ruled this world wanted to give him more pain and so it came to pass. All over his body a series of explosive detachments rocked his body as wire by wire, tube by tube, he was separated from the restraints that had left him connected to the pod. The only positive side of things was that the pain he felt in each of the empty areas where the tubes once were rated just above using alcohol to clean a bloody wound and each time a tube detached it was like a gunshot rocking his body. By the time the process was done he was left a gasping mess kept out of the goo only because his chin rested on the outside of the pod as were his elbows.

_ What's next?_ he thought to himself before he realized what he had just said and cursed himself for asking the one question one should never ask in these situations.

His question was asked as the goo that had been his first introduction into this nightmare was drained out of his pod with incredible force pulling him from his posture of safety no matter how hard he tried to hold on. So down the drain he went like so much crap and if it wasn't the slimy feel of the tube that was bothering him it was the fact that he couldn't get any purchase to slow his progress one bit. He had no choice but to wait it out and hope that where ever he popped out would be able to provide him with something to either explain what the **HELL** was going on or how to get back to good ol' Sunnydale. Lifting his head slightly to see over his feet without banging his head on the top of the pipe he could see a light at the end of the tunnel and hoped he wouldn't find the pearly gates when he got to the end of the stinky water slide.

He came out of the tube like a shot and for a moment was airborne before landing in some kind of net that caused him to bounce up and down for minute before finally settling down. He tried to look around and see where he was but the lights that surrounded the net he was in were too bright and he could barely see anything at all. There were a few black shapes amidst the lights but they were undefined and in some cases partially obscured but the lights. Suddenly he felt a blanket being thrown on him and soon after two sets of hands grabbed a hold of him and lifted him from the net. For a moment he was worried that it was Gabriel and her people here to finish whatever it was they started so he tried to pull himself free. However for the umpteenth time since he woke up his strength was less than that of a child and the strength of his captors were easily enough to keep him still.

"Easy Mr. Harris. It's just us. You're going to be fine." Came the familiar voice of Ghost from the black humanoid shape on his right.

"Where … ?" he tried to ask but found that his throat was still sore from that tube being down his throat so he could only get out a single word before it became too painful to speak.

"We'll answer all your questions soon enough Mr. Harris." , Ghost said as a door of light opened up ahead of them, "For now though we need to get you to the ships' infirmary."

Nodding reluctantly he found fatigue descending on him something fierce and wondered why he was suddenly so tired since he had only been awake for twenty minutes at best. He hoped the answer to that mystery would come up with all the rest.

"How is he?" came a woman's voice although he wasn't awake enough to identify who exactly.

"He's going to need some work but it should be alright." , came the voice of someone around Giles' age, "He's only one of five people I know of who have been freed at this age or older."

"Do what you can." The woman said before everything faded out again to black.

When next he woke things were a little better as he was almost completely awake although he was still feeling weak. Looking around he could see someone who looked like that African American Captain of the U.S.S Reliant in Star Trek 2 on one side with the black woman he recognized as Niobe. His eyes were hurting from the bright light that was shining down on him but no worse than they normally would if you were stuck in a dark room for awhile and then someone suddenly turned on the light. What concerned him though was the hundred plus foot long needles that seemed to be stuck in him as he couldn't imagine how they could possibly help him.

"What are you doing?" he asked although his voice was barely above a whisper.

"Your muscles have atrophied. We're rebuilding them." Doc replied as he continued to input directions into a computer console near his right hand.

"And my eyes?" he asked in the hopes of a equally efficient but honest answer.

"They're probably hurting a bit. That's because up until yesterday you've never used them." , Niobe answered with some compassion in her voice, "Don't worry Mr. Harris, the answers are coming."

"Xander." He said as he felt the sleepiness creeping up on him again.

"What?" Niobe asked a little confused.

"Call me Xander. Whenever someone calls me 'Mr. Harris' I always look around for my Dad and I'd just as soon forget about him." Xander said straining to get the entire sentence out despite the sore throat and fatigue.

"Xander it is then." Niobe said with a slight grin.

**Two Days After Xander was Freed, His Quarters Aboard Ship**

Xander awoke slowly, not longer tired but not at all eager to face whatever new shocks were about to be thrown his way today.

He couldn't exactly say he understood the big picture yet but from what little he had been able to pry out of Niobe and Doc during the moments in which he was conscious his body he was now in had never been used before. How exactly he had gotten snatched from his natural body and placed in this one he wasn't quite sure but he knew Gabriel and her goons had something to do with it. Gabriel had shoved something into his mouth and made him swallow it which had been immediately followed by the stone creeping up his legs and him being transported here. Where ever here was Niobe and Ghost didn't seem too freaked about it so chances were that they knew what was going on and where they were so he would have to save his questions until then. Currently though his going theory was that some aliens were fighting an intergalactic war and needed spirits of any kind to inhabit the bodies of their manufactured soldiers so that they could fight for them. After all it would match the comment about him never having used the eyes and muscles before while still being consistent with what he knew about his life. Hopefully though he would be able to hop on some spaceship and go back home sometime soon but something in the deeper part of his mind told him that things wouldn't be that easy. In fact almost from the moment he had first woken up in that pod he had been experiencing the oddest case of déjà vu he had ever experienced in his life. The things he had seen, the answers Niobe and Doc had given him, all seemed so familiar like a forgotten dream or half remembered idea.

_Of course that's nuts cause I've never met them before today and I **KNOW** I haven't been pre-packaged in a pink slushy pod before._ , Xander thought as he rose to a sitting position and looked around the room he was in, _Still if this room is any indication then the Rebel Alliance here is having a serious funding problem._

The steel wheel that sealed the door, like the ones he had seen on so many shows displaying sub-marines and Navy ships, turned with a creaking sound before opening to admit Niobe. Her clothes were in slightly better shape than the ship was and were certainly better than the rags that he had apparently inherited from someone else. They looked kinda like the Star Trek uniforms from the second through sixth movies except without the white under shirt or golden ornaments denoting rank, position and the organization they were associated with. Her face was a mask of composure so he couldn't really take a guess as to how she was feeling at the moment but it was probably nothing more than how a captain would feel to checking in on an unexpected guest.

"How're you feeling?" Niobe asked with the same amount of feeling in her voice as there was on her face.

"Like I've just taken a trip to the Twilight Zone but other than that alright." He replied but shook his head when it was clear that she didn't know anything about the show.

"Well if you want to get some answers to the questions that I am sure are running around in your head I'll give you a tour of the ship and try and answer them." Niobe said as she took a step aside and extended her arm towards the door.

"Lead on fair Captain." He said with his trademark lopsided grin.

To this she merely rolled her eyes a bit before heading out the door no doubt expecting him to follow her without having to be asked. Shrugging he followed her out and found that the 'I'm in desperate need of a new paint job' décor that had been present in his room was the running theme of the entire ship. Wires and cables were arrayed here and there with some being kept in place by rope or a rusty hook and nothing else which only reinforced the idea that they were the underdogs in whatever struggle they were involved with at the moment. Still if they were able to go from where ever here was to Sunnydale in order to save him from Gabriel than they must have at least one ship capable of making the trip back to Earth.

"This ship is called the Neo Trinity to honor two former comrades who were responsible for making the relative peace we are currently living in possible." , Niobe said as she walked along with an apparent ultimate destination in mind as it did not seem as though she was picking doors at random, "This only one of seven ships currently in operation at the moment. Even with the peace we have with the machines it is still taking time to repair and rebuild everything lost in the war."

This little tidbit of information helped Xander get a better idea of things but it also raised some more questions that he hoped to get answers for eventually. Apparently he had not been recruited into a war zone but rather a tentative peace with some intelligent machines like the ones in the Terminator movies. That would certainly explain the insect like machine that had detached this body from the pod. However if he was just recently implanted into that new body and the war was over than why had he seen so many other bodies still hooked up in those pods that looked ready for use? If the war was over wouldn't it make more sense just to unplug the ones that were occupied and destroy the leftovers that were just empty shells. Perhaps they had found another use for them or something but it still was puzzling to him.

"Unfortunately not everyone on either side was happy with the peace that was achieved. Both sides were left with unresolved issues and grievances after the war and some simply do not know how to let go of their hate for the other side." , Niobe explained as they entered some sort of computer room with the machines arranged in a circular pattern around several used barbershop chairs, "This unfortunately have given rise of to factions on both sides that have been trying for almost twenty years to destroy the peace we have and restart the war. They won't be happy until their own side is the only one left standing!"

It was clear by Niobe's last statement that she cared about the peace that her people had with the machines and didn't want a few malcontents to ruin it for the rest of them. He could understand that because if he had been granted a peace after a long time of war he wouldn't want it to be taken away no matter how tense it was for everyone. It didn't take a genius to connect the dots and see that Gabriel and her goons were a part of the faction that had come from Niobe's side at the end of the war. The way they had looked at one another in the church made it clear that they hated one another in a way that a person could only look at someone they perceived to be a traitor. Add to that the acts done by either side over the years and he doubted that they could just get together and make up tomorrow. However that didn't answer his main question of why they were so interested in getting him to join their side. After all he had been on Earth the entire time they had been at war with the machines and had done nothing to warrant the attention of some psycho lady and her posse.

"What exactly does this have to do with me?" he asked while attempting to figure out the basic purpose of this room.

"That .. is something we're still trying to work out the details of at the moment. We know they had you under surveillance for a little over three weeks and that they were behind the man that attacked you in your apartment." , Niobe said as she worked the keyboard where all the others seemed to be hooked up to, "They obviously wanted you bad enough to put up the charade of luring you to the church but the why is still a mystery. Normally they don't bother with people they don't think they can use in their struggle and even when a person is useful they aren't usually so polite when asking the 'volunteers' to join."

"Well at least you managed to stop them before they could brainwash me into being one of their foot soldiers." , Xander said with gratitude as he craned his neck to see what she was working on, "So, any idea when I can go back home?"

That question made Niobe go both silent and rigid which was **not** an encouraging sign and made Xander distinctly nervous about what she would say when she did finally answer. After all this was a silence people usually reserved when asked about a particularly difficult and uncomfortable topic like when kids asked their parents about kissing and where babies come from. He knew he had experienced a few moments like those with Anya when she had asked questions about why it was improper to talk so openly about the topic of sex in front of others. He usually said just about anything to get her to make her shut up and then hoped that she would remember to mind what she said the next time she had the urge to talk like that in front of others. Not that it worked half the time and that was one of the reasons they had ultimately decided that their relationship wouldn't work. He just hoped he would have an easier time coaxing Niobe to tell him what he wanted to know than getting Anya to stop explaining their time in bed with excruciating detail.

"I'm afraid that its not quite as easy as it may sound Xander. If you want a full explanation then we're gonna have to change the scenery a little bit." , Niobe said as she walked around to one of the barber chairs and gestured to it, "Sit."

_What does she think I am? Some kind of dog?_ He thought to himself with a little annoyance before doing as she asked.

The guy known as Doc got up from the other side of the room where he had been down in some kind of maintenance crawl space and moved to the main console that Niobe had been at a moment before. He pressed a few more buttons and a console that had been positioned above the chair he was now in lowered down to about chest high in front of Niobe.

"Everything set Bugs?" Niobe said with some humor in her voice.

"All set Xena." Doc Bugs said with equal humor as he called her by what Xander assumed was a friendly nickname like G-Man.

"Now Xander this is going to feel a little weird but please try and remain calm." Niobe said as she took something from behind the chair and looked to be about to attach it to the head rest of his chair.

Before he could ask her what it was they were going to be doing his mind was filled with a brief period of stabbing pain as if repeating what had happened when the plunger had been removed from the back of his head except in reverse. When it passed though and he opened his eyes to give Niobe a piece of his mind he found himself in an endless white wide open space that seemed to stretch out for miles in every direction with no end in sight. It was completely empty with nothing to show where he had come from to get here or how the heck he was going to get back to the Neo Trinity and kick Niobe's ass.

"This is the construct program. It is in here that we are provided with the tools we need in order to operate in the world you come from. Anything from weapons to clothes to tools can be provided here easily." came the voice of Niobe and when Xander turned towards the source he found her dressed in the clothes she had been in when she had rescued him.

"Wait! Program? You mean we're inside some kind of freaky virtual reality program!" he exclaimed as he looked about and took everything in to find that is looked and felt as though he were in the real world.

"Yes. Look at yourself. Your hair has come back, your in familiar clothes, the plugs and holes in your body are gone." , Niobe said as she gestured for him to look and see for himself, "You looks now are what we call residual self-image. It is a digital representation of how you see yourself in your world."

Doing as she implied he found that she spoke the truth. He had a full head of hair instead of the baldness that he had discovered through his sense of touch when he woke up on this new world. His clothes were no longer the rags he had been wearing moments ago aboard the Neo Trinity and indeed there was no sign that there had ever been a series of plugs and holes in his body. It totally blew him away how sophisticated this VR simulation was, how real it felt to all of his senses, and the fact that the technology for it existed in the first place. However amidst what she had just told him a nagging fact hit him square in the head as she mentioned for the second time since he woke up the term 'his world'. The way she said it wasn't the way a person would talk about someone else's world but rather about a world they themselves had once been a part of once upon a time. While the fact that she was human would certainly indicate she was originally from Earth the reference she had made started a domino effect of other odd things he hadn't really thought of up until then. Why would an alien race advanced enough to create space ships and VR simulators like this use computers and tech that was so obviously from Earth. It would be like recruiting a cave man to fight a Klingon and giving him a club from his own time to fight with. Naturally the cave man would get slaughtered due to inferior weapons and intellect. The more he thought of it the more he knew he needed to ask her one single question.

"What exactly do you mean when you say that? 'My world'?" Xander asked as he looked back up only to find two plush chairs and a seventies style TV set where previously there had been nothing.

Niobe sighed from her chair before turning to him and replying "I figured it wouldn't be long before you caught on to that. What I mean when I say your world is that contrary to whatever ideas you've probably cooked up so far we aren't in another dimension or another planet. We are still on Earth."

"Yeah right! I may not be the most knowledgeable person on the planet but even I know that not even the government has tech this advanced!" , Xander said incredulously as he waited for her to start laughing at her own joke, "Besides I doubt that any part of any armed forces would settle for a ship being in this kind of condition."

"If it was still the year you think it is then you'd probably right but I'm afraid that you are at least a century or two behind in the times." , Niobe said as she seemed to prepare herself for a difficult conversation, "You think the year is 1999 when in fact it is closer to the year 2199. We don't know exactly because the no one really knows and the machines haven't exactly been real loose with records pertaining to the past. The life you've been leading up until now has simply been a highly advanced version of this construct program."

"What! You mean it wasn't real!" Xander yelled in inquiry as he tried to wrap his head around the whole concept.

"Real? What is real? If for you real is what you can see, smell, taste, touch and hear then real is just a series of nerve impulses being sent to your brain at just the right time." , Niobe replied as she took a remote control that looked like it belonged to a different model TV set, "This is the world as you know it."

With that she pointed the remote to the TV and up popped an image of Sunnydale that randomly flickered from one location to another again and again.

"This is how the world looked at the end of the of the twentieth century. The absolute height of human civilization by most standards." , Niobe said casually yet carefully, "It exists now only as a part of a nuero-synaptic simulation that we call the Matrix. You've been living in the equivalent of a dream world Xander. This, is how the world looks as it is today."

With the press of a button on the remote the image on the TV changed from one of civilization and advancement to one of destruction and desolation. It was his worst nightmare come to life right before his eyes, the fear he had always had ever since he and the gang had prevented their first apocalypse. It had always existed at the back of his mind what the world would look like if they should fail to keep the demons from succeeding in opening the Hellmouth. He had never dwelled on it long, never let the possibility of failure weigh him down, preferring to focus on the positive and make sure the others did as well. While his mind had been occupied with those thoughts the scenery had changed once again as he found himself standing in the scene that had just been depicted on the TV.

"Welcome to the Desert of the Real." , Niobe said with some gloom as well as some reverence for the sight, "You're probably wondering how it got so bad. The truth is we have only bits and pieces of how it all came about. What we do know though is that sometime at the beginning of the twenty-first century humanity as a whole marveled at the achievement of creating the first real artificial intelligence."

"It was a singular intelligence that spawned an entire race of beings based on its own unique design. We don't know who started the war between the human race and the machines but we do know it was us who darkened the sky." , Niobe said looking up at the stormy black clouds that rumbled with thunder, "At the time the machines were dependant on the sun to power themselves. It was thought that if the sun was removed for a time the machines would eventually shut down. Unfortunately the eggheads back then failed to take one possibility into account."

She clicked a button on the remote again and the image on the TV changed to one of pod similar to the one that he himself had woken up in.

"The human body generates more bio-electricity than a 120 volt battery and more than twenty-five thousand btus of heat. Combined with a form of fusion they invented the machines found a source of power that would make sure they could live on indefinitely." , Niobe said as the scene on the TV continued to provide visual input to support her narration of events, "There are fields covering the surface of the Earth, endless fields where up until twenty years ago humans were not born but grown like a farmer's crop. I know it's hard to believe but I've been there myself and seen how the process works from beginning to end. Seeing the truth of it for yourself you can't help but also stumble upon another truth. What is the Matrix? Control. It is a way for them to keep us trapped within the confines of our own minds while they use our bodies to keep themselves going."

The tale Niobe had just told him hit him like a ton of bricks and if his brain had been a computer it would have been blinking 'input error' again and again. To discover that his entire life had been nothing more than a simulation pre-defined by some soulless machine to keep him from learning the truth about the world he was living in. He wanted more than anything to say 'screw you! This can't be true!' but for some reason he knew it was the truth in all its horrifying reality. He wasn't on some other planet in some other body. He was on Earth, in his own body and been used like a battery ever since the day he was born. Born. He wasn't born! He was spliced together by a machine and then stuck into a plastic baggy after he was hooked up to a series of cables to keep the robots going. It was a concept that no could be expected to be able to take in all at once and he himself needed some time to himself to think things through.

"Get me out of this place. Now!" Xander said quietly with no real emotion one way or another aside from a vehement insistence to be let out of the construct program.

Niobe seemed to hesitate for a moment although something told him it wasn't for the reason he thought it was which was his icy request to exit the construct program. Still she nodded in the end and ordered Doc to bring them back home. As soon as he was back aboard the Neo Trinity and they had pulled whatever it was that they had stuck into the back of his head he went off on his own without so much as a 'thanks for the info' and retraced his steps back to the room he had woken up in. His whole world had literally been put on its head and he was left to try to make sense of everything he had seen and everything he had been told.

_You know things have taken a turn for the wierd when a person like me actually starts wishing for the old type of craziness of vampires and apocalypses._ Xander thought to himself as he settled into his bunk and began to sift through everything in an effort to make it fit better inside of his head.

Broadcast Room, Five Minutes After Xander Has Left 

"Well that went better than I thought it would." Niobe said in an almost detached manner as she tried to make sense of the nagging feeling at the back of her mind.

"Yeah. Most of the others his age who were freed almost always loose their lunch when they're told the truth." , Doc said as he shut down the network except for the Matrix surveillance systems, "Still the way he was so icy calm just now bothers me. I'd almost prefer it if he ranted and raved and made promises to kill us than this."

"It was almost like he …" Niobe began to say but as soon as the rest of her thoughts and her prevailing theory everything screeched to a halt.

"Almost like what?" Doc asked with some concerned at the look of disbelief and confusion on his Captain's face.

"Almost like he knew what I was going to say and was just waiting me to say it like I was reading from a script." Niobe said as she finally put to words what her mind was proposing as the truth.

"That's impossible. Even with the machines allowing us to free the minds of those we think are ready to be unplugged they haven't exactly been advertising within the Matrix that it is all a fantasy." Doc said making it clear that he thought the entire idea was ridiculous.

"I know. They only divulge the truth to someone when they can't come up with anything more convenient." , Niobe said knowing full well the reluctance of the machines to give up their sole power supply, "Add to that the fact that we have to be selective as to who we think is mentally prepared to leave the Matrix and the likelihood of someone telling him the truth before us is slim."

"Maybe Gabriel and her crew spilled the beans before you arrived." Doc said walking over to her.

"Maybe. They'd have a hard time convincing him of that from within the Matrix without alerting both us and the machines to where they were." , Niobe said in a voice that illustrated her belief that her first theory was the right one, "Besides I doubt anything that came out of Gabriel's mouth was anything even remotely close to the truth."

"Probably explains why most of her crew are men. She probably just whispers sweet nothings in their ears and the occasional tumble in the sack to keep them loyal." Doc said with an amused grin on his face.

"Yeah. They'd leave her in a second if she had to get by on charisma and skill like the rest of us." Niobe said equally amused at their belittling of the one true bottle blonde if there ever was one.

With that said they both headed to the main bridge to get underway and see if any rebel ships were in the area. Twenty years ago it would have been unheard of for one ship of Zion to attack another but today it was a given that not every hovercraft you came across was on your side. It was times like these that the former captain of the Logos and the current captain of the Neo Trinity almost did wish for the old days of man versus machine. At least then humanity was untied under a single banner of freeing their people from the oppression and exploitation of the machines. Unfortunately no sooner did one conflict end than another began and this one promised to be just as bloody as the war with the machines. She just couldn't understand how people could be so caught up in the past that they couldn't appreciate the good thing they had going right then and there in the present. It wasn't that she liked the machines or was getting all chummy with them or anything but she was just tired enough of war and death to give this peace a chance.

When they got to the cockpit they found Sparks and Ghost looking at the holo-display which was currently displaying a map of the network of tunnels they were in. Aside from a random squiddy they saw popping in and out there was no sign of any other traffic besides themselves which probably meant that Gabriel and her crew had been sent packing. She knew that the blonde's boss wouldn't be too pleased by this turn of events as she knew he wasn't one to be overly tolerant of mistakes or failure. He had been well known for busting a few balls when his orders weren't followed to the letter or when someone under him expressed some individuality at the wrong time. Niobe doubted that he would outright kill Gabriel but the woman would definitely be looking for some payback the next time they ran into each other.

"So boss how's the new kid?" Sparks asked as he switched the holo-display from a broad long range display to a more detail short range display.

"Surprisingly alright considering he just got the 'big talk'." Niobe said as she took the main pilot's seat after Ghost vacated it.

She had always felt more comfortable behind the controls of a hovercraft rather than fighting in out inside of the Matrix with yet another group of rebels. After the war came to an end it had been years before she had gotten behind the controls of a working hovercraft again and a full decade before she got a ship of her own again. When she had first gotten behind the wheel again she had been downright disgusted with how much she had slipped in terms of piloting skills. So every chance she got she would take the controls and try to get herself back up to where she had been with the Logos. She was almost there but now it wasn't the long time away from the controls that was affecting her piloting skills but rather the fact that she was getting on in years. She had been in her early thirties when the war had come to an end and now just a few years short of fifty-five her reflexes were not what they once were. It wouldn't be too long before she would be forced to hand the reigns of the ship over to someone else willingly or get thrown out when she made one mistake too many. She knew it was the truth but that didn't mean she had to like it or that she couldn't put it off for as long as possible before finally walking away from what had been her life for so long.

"So where to boss?" Sparks asked in his usual emotive manner.

"Back to Zion. As long as we're up here its only a matter of time before the rebels make another try for Xander. Back home at least we can make them work a little harder for him." Niobe said as she plotted a course back to the sole human colony in existence.

"Sounds good to me. Home sweet home!" Sparks said with a little too much enthusiasm.

"You just want to get back to your ladies." Doc said with a rueful smile as he ribbed the Neo Trinity's Operator.

"Hey can I help it if the ladies love a war hero?" he said smugly all too aware that there were no such ladies waiting for him in Zion.

"War hero? You never left the safety of the Logos the entire time and the one time you did have to fight you were screaming at us to fly faster." Ghost said ruefully as he remembered their tense flight down the utility shaft to Zion with a hundred sentinels chasing them.

"Just because I wasn't insane enough to go and stare death in the face like the rest of you doesn't make me any less a hero than the rest of you." Sparks said in defense of his past track record in battle.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Doc said slapping Sparks in the shoulder.

"If you guys are though joking around let's get this show on the road." Niobe said rolling her eyes at their male antics.

_ The sooner we get back to Zion the sooner I can get away from these lunatics._ Niobe thought as she started the ship off on its journey home.

**__**

Five Hours Later, Xanders 'Quarters' Aboard the Neo Trinity 

Some might think he would still be pondering the reality of the facts he had been introduced to five hours ago, trying to come to terms with the truth that had been handed to him. Unfortunately as quite a few prophecies and dusty old books had come to accept Xander rarely followed the patterns of any kind or did what was expect of him. So at the moment, instead of doing what others thought he'd be doing, he was instead trying to resolve the increasingly nagging case of déjà vu that had only gotten worse since 'The Talk' in the loading program. It had been steadily growing pretty much since he had woken up in that pod and had jumped up a few decibels since his time in the loading program. He tried to reason it out in his head, try to come up something to explain everything but more he tried the more it seemed to escape him. It was like trying to run to the end of a rainbow, no matter how certain you are where it touches down you can never get there no matter how hard you run. It was bugging him to no end but there was no way he was going to get any rest until he figured it out one way or another. There was a knock on the door which then opened to reveal Ghost who apparently wasn't intending to stay long from the way he was standing half in and half out of the room.

"We're about ten minutes out from Zion. Thought you might want to know." Ghost said before turning around and leaving a befuddled Xander sitting on his bunk looking at the space the Asian man had previously occupied.

_ Zion? Are these guys with the Children of Zion terrorist group?_ Xander thought to himself as he followed Ghost with a combination of curiousity and wariness.

From what she had told him this battle with the rebels had been going on for roughly the same length of time as the Children of Zion had been around. Add to that the creepy Feds who had paid him a visit and it was a distinct possibility. After all how better to get him over to their side than to 'rescue' him from a 'dangerous' group of rebels bent on restarting a war. Still he didn't exactly get the psycho terrorist vibe from them and they certainly didn't act evil like some undead minions he had come across in Sunnydale. Still it was an odd coincidence that these people lived in a place that had such an obvious connection to a terrorist group it was pathetic. In any case he didn't really have any evidence up until now to put them in the bad guy slot. He wouldn't be a fool and be completely trusting but at the same time he wouldn't let his suspicions cause him to act like a jerk around them. He would stay on the proverbial fence until such time as he had evidence enough so as to make his choice clear.

When he reached the bridge he found Niobe and some other guy behind the controls with Ghost taking up a familiar support position behind Niobe. He didn't know why but he had expected the bridge to look a little better than the rest of the ship but found it in the same 'held together with spit and duct tape' shape that he had seen everyone else. With the new room viewing out of the way he looked out the window opposite the door he had just come through and saw them slowly approaching a massive door that looked like it could take everything short of a nuke and remain standing. Guns were mounted on platforms on either side of the corridor of metal and junk that they were traveling down. The guns were currently trained on the Neo Trinity and he wondered just how long it would be before they were asked for some sort of security code or if they had technology enough to be able to scan and recognize individual ships.

His question was answered when Niobe flicked a switch at her side and said "This is Captain Niobe of the Neo Trinity requesting entry to the dock through the eastern passageway."

"Roger than Captain Niobe. Access will be granted upon confirmation of your access code." Came a female voice from the speakers in the bridge.

Niobe then typed in a six digit code into a keyboard beneath the screen in front of her which he presumed was the access code but she did a very good job at keeping anyone from seeing more than two of the six digits.

"Access code confirmed. Welcome back Captain Niobe. Morpheus is eager to hear your report." The female voice said as the massive doors ahead of them began to screech open making it clear that they were in massive need of lubricant of some kind but thankfully though the guns did stand down.

When the view of what lay beyond the heavy metal doors became clear Xander found himself finally satisfied with the sight before him as it matched what he had imagined in his mind of the last bastion of human kind. It was a spawling cityscape and while a large portion of it had been set aside to give the ships like the Neo Trinity to dock it was also clear that there were living quarters erected on the opposite end of the chamber.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see Ghost almost giving him smile of comradery before saying "Xander, welcome to Zion."


	3. New circumstances and choices

Note : Well things seem to be proceeding smoothly with this fic but now comes the part where you the readers help me a bit. The next few chapters will involve Xander's training in how to operate a hovercraft as well as his Matrix training. However I do not want to make this just another re-hashing of what Neo went through in the first movie. So I would appreciate some input from you the readers as to what to do in the next chapter. I may or may not use your ideas in the fic or I may just use the ideas as inspiration for my own scenario but I would appreciate the help. 

The Council Chambers of Zion, One Hour Later 

_Now I remember why I preferred to be supporting staff rather than one of the big guns!_ Xander thought to himself as he tried his very best not to fidget in his seat behind a small table across from the raised table where ruling council of Zion sat.

Contrary to the popular theory that most guys his age wanted to be the big hero and they person everyone looked to for the solution to their latest problems he was perfectly content to just be a helper. In his opinion the job of leader was way too stressful and everyone tended to expect you to be right all the time without exception. The role of leader was associated with the idea of strength and wisdom which he didn't possess in sufficient quantities to lead anything larger than a raid of the fridge. Now with the entire Council looking at him with curiousity, suspicion and a weird look that only the one Niobe identified as Morpheus was giving him he was more than a little nervous. He had nowhere to go, knew no one outside of the Matrix and was now face to face with the people who would decide his fate with nothing but his own words to defend himself with. What if they decided he was too dangerous to be allowed to roam free and locked him up? What if they decided to kill him? He was essentially at their mercy and having no options as to what to do bothered him to no end. Still most of their attention seemed to be focused on Niobe and questioning her on what happened so he was currently praying to whatever non-machine created deities existed that they wouldn't call on him.

"Mr. Harris? Do you have any idea why these rebels would want you to join their side?" asked an elderly old man that reminded him of his grandfather.

I should know better by now than to call on those idiots for anything , Xander thought sourly before replying , "No idea whatsoever sir. I'm just plain old Xander Harris from Sunnydale, California. Personally I think their brains must have been on the fritz when they decided kidnapping me would be a good idea."

Some of the council members took this in good cheer and chuckled a bit at his opinion of the rebel factions' IQ. Morpheus on the other hand was barely grinning and was still giving him the hairy eyeball like he a suspected traitor or spy. Given that these guys were fighting against their own people who knew the ins and outs of this city as well as anybody on the other side he could kinda see his point of view. After all how did they know that Gabriel and her flunkies hadn't converted him to their side weeks before and staged everything that happened to get him into Zion in a way that wouldn't rouse suspicions. After all what reason would they have to suspect someone who had been jacked into the Matrix for his entire life and as far as they knew had only recently been told the truth about the world. He could only hope that when they didn't find anything they would stop watching him like he was some suicide robot that was going to blow up Zion the second the stopped looking at him.

"In any case until we have ascertained the purpose behind their actions you will understand if we assign a security detail to keep watch over you and keep you out of certain sensitive areas." Councilman Harmann said trying to sound diplomatic and kind.

"No problem." Xander said unable to come up with a witty line to lighten the mood in the room.

"Very well. Guest quarters have been set aside down on level eight for you." , Morpheus said as if reading from a script in an empty room, "Captain Niobe will escort you there."

With that the council meeting was over although there were a few members who had apparently chosen to stay behind and talk the matter over further of which Morpheus was one of them. Chances were until he managed to win over him everyone he came across would likely look at him with a certain bit of suspicion and in some cases judgement. Still there was no point in worrying over something he couldn't do anything about at the moment so he shelved the problem for the moment and followed Niobe to his new home. Zion was certainly buzzing at the moment with people going up and back the pathways that criss-crossed the entire area but it wasn't hard to spot the cops in the crowd. It was obvious that having the rebels be former neighbors and comrades had made them a little paranoid about who they could trust. After all if people you cared about and who you thought cared about you could turn traitor than could you really trust anyone at all. They went down to what looked like a freight elevator and got in with a few other people before Niobe hit the eight button next to the door. Since it would be awhile before they reached the right floor he decided to try and figure out for himself why Gabriel and her crew tried to grab him.

There were two things that were immediately obvious to him based on what he remembered from the moment the Thief attacked him in his place to moment he was unplugged from the Matrix. The first was that they had wanted the grab to be nice and quiet without anyone knowing what was going on until they had made their getaway. It was clear from the way that the Thief had come out of his room, kicked his butt and then was called off by whoever was on the other end of the cell phone that confrontation was not included in their mission plan. The second was how determined they seemed to get him at the church with the numerous minions around and the rough treatment he received before having the pill shoved down his throat. This told him that they were determined to get him which was weird if he was just some average Joe America that they were planning on recruiting to the cause. However if they thought he either knew something or saw him as something that could help them in their 'crusade' then that might explain a few things. For the life of him though he couldn't recall anything that he might know important enough for what Gabriel and her group were trying to pull off. As for being special that was another nada since he was the most normal person of the Scooby gang and had never exhibited any out of the ordinary abilities. So all in all if there was anything important about him or within him he most certainly hadn't been told anything about it.

_ So either I was right and they're all idiots or else I'm suffering from an extreme case of amnesia. _Xander thought as the elevator finally came to a stop on a floor and Niobe started to walk out.

She didn't say anything like "c'mon Xander! Hurry up!" so obviously she expected him to be smart enough to follow her along without having to be treated like a kid. Whether this is because she saw him as a competent person or simply was performing her duties and didn't really care one way or another whether he followed her. Still he did his best to keep up with her since the prospect of getting lost was not something he thought was of the good especially since it would only reinforce their suspicions that he was a spy if he wandered into a sensitive area. Looking at this 'residential area' if he could call it that it was obvious that this underground area had originally build to be some kind of factory, power plant or some other building not intended for human habitation. After all even the most utilitarian apartment complex still managed to look like it had been made with humans living there in mind. On every level up to four above and six below from what he could tell there was a set of doors arrayed next to each other from one end to another that looked like the doors on the Neo Trinity. All either oval or vertical rectangle shaped with a large wheel door knob in the middle to either open or close and perhaps even seal each room.

It seemed like this is what he would have to expect but to tell the truth he still took it as yet another piece of evidence at how harsh things were in the real world. Back in the Matrix things may have been fake but they were comfortable and in some cases promoted optimism in the future. Here though things were dreary to the point of being depressing and while there did exist some hope it was also accepted that it would be a long time before the human race would ever return to a level of living that they once knew. Until then he supposed he would just have to grin and bear it taking happiness and joy where he could and maybe try and get a posting on a ship once they stopped looking at him like he had a "I'm a spy" t-shirt on. Then he could occasionally go into the Matrix and for awhile pretend that nothing of what he had experienced in the last while was real.

Finally they seemed to reach their destination and with a spin of the wheel clockwise the door unlocked and Niobe pulled it open and entered the room. When he stepped in he found pipes and vents arrayed about the room just as he suspected they would be with a fold up bed present along with a sink and latrine. He shuddered at the hygienic faux pas this place had and how much it made him appreciate the basement he had been stuck in before he had moved to his apartment. It may have been damp, smelly and cold but compared to this place it was a luxury suite at the Ritz Carlton but as he doubted he could get a better room if such a room existed he would have to live with it.

"This will be your room until the Council decides what to do with you." , Niobe said as she gave a grand sweep of the room with her arm, "However as you might expect we would ask you to try and not be wasteful with water and the other resources made available to you. Things might be getting better ever since peace was achieved with the machines but we still have to make everything last as long as possible."

"Sure. Niobe? What do you think the Council's decision will be?" Xander asked hoping that she might have an idea of how good or how bad things were at the moment.

To this question she seemed to hesitate a moment before she said "Truthfully I don't know. Security is a constant concern with the people of Zion given that the rebels once lived here with us back during the war. However the most damaging weapon they have is that their leader was once in charge the city's security and defense. This has made the people's safety uncertain and in doubt with many on the ruling council and the defense force. For what it's worth though I don't think you're a spy."

"Why is that?" Xander asked innocently enough.

"You're too much of a pretty boy to be one." , Niobe said in a perfect deadpan manner, "I'll be around later to show you down to the mess hall for lunch."

With that she left and he was alone to do what he would until she returned. Deciding to start with the most important and then work his way down until his 'rescuer' returned he walked over to the bed and laid down to test its comfort factor. Unfortunately it turned out to be of the same quality as the rest of Zion as it was only a few steps above being a slab of concrete and maybe it was just his imagination but it kinda smelled. Hopefully though he could move up in the living conditions area as they came to trust him more and more otherwise he might wind up becoming as dark and moody as deadboy. Hopefully though if he even got that bad someone would have the decency to either shoot him or toss him over the railing outside his room. Heaven forbid that he should ever wind up acting like Lord Forehead even if it there was a chance that hot women liked the dark and moody type.

_And so marks the transition from blissful ignorance to poverty level living conditions._ , Xander thought angrily as he imagined the face of the person he held responsible, _Thank you very much Gabriel, you pompous British bitch!_

The Matrix, Sunnydale, Same Time 

"Any luck?" Willow asked with concern as Buffy walked in the door looking more than a little tired.

"No. I hit every demon hang out, nest and lair in town as well as Willy's bar and none of them seemed to know anything about Xander." Buffy said with fatigue creeping into her voice.

It had been like this for the past two days ever since they had upgraded their status from 'haven't seen Xander around' to 'Xander is officially missing and likely in trouble'. Since then Buffy had started raising hell (figuratively speaking of course) with the local demon community trying to track him down and had little to show for her efforts except maybe scaring some species of demon out of town in a big hurry. Willow had been working on the less physical and more mental end of the investigation looking through the online sites she had been shown by Ms. Calendar . Unfortunately she was experiencing a similar lack of progress but that could just because of the premise she had been working on that the same people that had broken into Xander's place. All she had to show for it was a few vague accounts of leather wearing people disappearing from rooms with only one entrance and no exits. This matched what Buffy had been able to pound out of Willy the first time around but when she tried to delve deeper and go back a few years things just got increasingly vague and conflicting. Whoever these people were they were very good at covering their tracks and staying below even the arcane community's radar.

"Well then we're just going to have to work harder. Someone has to know something about where he's disappeared to!" Willow said with a little frustration and anger.

"Easy Willow. We will find Xander, I promise!" Buffy said as she plopped herself on a set next to Willow and the Magic Box book table.

Grabbing a random volume she began to try and sift through the information and find something useful despite her deficiencies in the area of homework and dusty book reading. She was determined to find her Xander-shaped friend no matter what and that included going through books that made her head hurt. Giles was out of town at the moment visiting a coven of witches overseas that he hoped would have a better time tracking Xander down using magic. After all Willow might be talented in the area of magic but she was still just a student whereas the coven was filled with seasoned experts with much more practice doing this sort of thing. Giles said that he would call them later today whether he had anything to report or not and would likely be back sometime later in the week. Until then they were left searching through every resource they had access to at the Magic Box and online to find answer to their questions. If they kept going as hard as they were and didn't let anything get in their they just might get their first bit of good info some time in the next decade.

Just then Buffy's Slayer sense pinged to life and let her know that something distinctly hellmouthy was approaching the front door to the store. Tossing the book back on the table she immediately took up a defensive position between the door and Willow keeping her hands at her side and near a dagger she had hidden on her belt beneath her coat. When the door opened and the bell over the door rang to announce a new customer she immediately went on the defensive at the sight of the rigid and obviously federal agents. They both looked like they had a titanium rod stuck up their asses and had a feel about them that screamed 'I am going to seriously creep you out for as long as I am here'. They stopped just inside of the door and seemed to case the place before proceeding over to them milking the mysterious 'Men in Black' routine to the max.

"Ms. Summers, Ms. Rosenberg. I am Agent Dalton and my partner is Agent Wright and it has come to the attention of our agency that you have been illegally hacking into several databases you shouldn't be." , Agent Dalton said as he seemed to focus on the pile of occult books on the table, "While this would normally result in your immediate arrest I can sympathize with your desire to find your friend. Therefore I will tell you what I can about your friend's situation."

"What do you know?" Buffy demanded as she attempted to intimidate the Agents who she was fairly certain were the ones who visited Xander before the day before he disappeared.

"While I cannot divulge everything Ms. Summers I can say that he has been relocated to a secure location for his own protection. The thief that broke into his apartment is a part of a terrorist group who for unknown reasons want him in their possession very badly." , Agent Dalton replied as he countered her intimidation tactics with an air of indifference, "Until such time as we can successfully determine the reasons for their actions Mr. Harris will be staying in federal custody."

This answered some of the Slayer's questions but not all of them as she got the distinct feeling that these guys weren't telling them everything but rather what they believed she needed to know. It was the same old cloak and dagger bullshit she that seemed so cliché in the movies but at present irked her big time. Still despite her wish to introduce these guys to her fist she knew it would only serve to plug up a potential source of information. She knew that if these guys were going to be investigating why this terrorist group was interested in Xander which meant that they would be keeping near Sunnydale and snooping around. If that was so then she could trail them when they were in town and hopefully learn what they were unwilling to tell them right now.

"Is there a way we can get in touch with him?" Willow asked who was likely torn between wanting Xander to be safe and losing contact with him completely in the process.

"At the moment it would be better if Mr. Harris remained hidden. Perhaps at a later date when more secure channels of communication are set up it may be possible for you to contact him but at the moment that would be inadvisable." , Agent Wright said in reply to the Wicca's question, "We will try to keep you as apprised as I can on the progress of our investigation but there will be some facts which will have to remain classified. Good day Ms. Rosenberg, Ms. Summers."

With that brief conversation the two agents left the store leaving the two Scoobies present in the store wondering just what it was that their friend had gotten them into.

Zion, Mess Hall, Noon 

_And the hits just keep on comin'!_ Xander thought to himself as he looked at what was supposed to be lunch.

Niobe had come to pick him up about half an hour ago and brought him here to show him where he could get something to eat and what they had to offer. Unfortunately he soon realized that living deep beneath the surface of the Earth had a serious effect on the variety of food that was available for consumption. Thanks to the clouds of darkness the blacked out the sun pretty much all plants had been rendered extinct within a decade of the Black Death as the clouds had come to be called. The only plants that were able to survive and currently existed here in Zion were ones that had been genetically altered so that they could survive off of artificial light instead of sunlight. Niobe had gone on to explain the matter further entering into geek territory but he had pretty much ignored her and just remembered to nod at the right moments. It had been an age old talent he had perfected in high school during class and only Willow had been able to see through his devious strategy. Fortunately that didn't stop her from helping him cram for tests or cobble together passable research papers on stuff he hadn't read about. By the time they got to the dispensers she had finished her little lecture and showed him what came out of what and how much he was allowed to have. Fruit was a big thing but also limited to one item of fruit per person on account of the size of the crop and how many people lived here. Niobe said that they were working on expanding that but that it was still in the planning stage.

However what made up the main dish however made him want to hijack the Neo Trinity, track down Gabriel and personally inform her of how 'displeased' he was over unplugging him from the Matrix. It looked for all intents and purposes as if someone had taken a handful of rice, mixed it with water diluted miracle whip and then put it into a blender on frappe. Needless to say he was none to eager to try it out so he decided to eat the apple (at least that is what he thought it was) as slow as possible and hope that he could hold out until supper when he could get his next piece of fruit. Anything except eating something that looked like someone had upchucked it onto his plate for him to re-consume. Unfortunately Niobe noticed this and the look on his face seemed to amuse her a great deal as she let out a light chuckle while shaking her head.

"Don't worry kid. Everyone recently unplugged pretty much as the same opinion of the stuff at first but it really doesn't taste that bad." , Niobe said with only a little amusement in her voice, "Besides it contains all the necessary nutrients and vitamins we need that we can't get the natural way."

Deciding to give her the benefit of a doubt he spooned some of the stuff up and put it in his mouth to see how it tasted. It was definitely making him miss the Matrix but he felt that if he had to he might be able to get used to it. Eventually. Until then though he figured the best way to deal with the foul taste would be for him to shovel it into his mouth as quick as he could and swallow before his sense of taste caught up with his brain. This seemed to make Niobe chuckle a bit harder and made him wonder how many other people had used a similar tactic to deal with this slop. In any case though he was finished the U.I.S (unidentified icky stuff) fairly quickly and tried to cover up the taste of the stuff with the fruit. It did a pretty good job but he could still taste some of the U.I.S in his mouth and hoped that it would eventually go away. Once they had returned their trays to the kitchen staff to be cleaned and sterilized Niobe took him to the elevator saying she wanted to show him 'The Temple'. According to the captain of the Neo Trinity it was used as a meeting place for important announcements, parties, mass and if need be a pseudo bomb shelter.

When they reached the entrance to the place he could see that it was apparently naturally formed stone cave with fissures here and there in the ground to let geo-thermal heat to come up and keep people warm. Unfortunately given that he was still wearing the clothes he had been wearing since waking up on the Neo Trinity it was a touch warm for him. The place was pretty empty at the moment with only a few people kneeling in prayer and they seemed to be dressed in clothes consistent with desert dwelling people. Hopefully they would be kind enough to bestow him with such garments or he was going to get pretty dehydrated if the meeting lasted longer than an hour. After Niobe finished her initial summary she seemed to space out for a bit as if reliving old and potent memories. Given what she said had been going on here in Zion ever since the end of the war with the machines it was easily believable that some pretty heavy stuff had happened to her. Betrayal, forced to fight those who she once called friend and not being able to let down her own guard even in her own home. Being here must remind her of happier times when they were all unified under a single banner and could trust one another with their lives. For a moment he wanted to try and comfort her but decided to keep his mouth shut. He barely knew her and she barely knew him so he didn't really have the right to be all buddy buddy with her like that so he just stood there and waited until she came out of it.

However it was at that time that someone coughed behind them making them both turn to face the person who had made the sound to find Morpheus standing there.

"Morpheus." Niobe said neutrally with her emotions concealed.

"Niobe. The Council has reached a decision regarding Mr. Harris." , Morpheus said although Xander could tell he was able to see past the woman's shields, "They are waiting for us in the council chambers."

Zion Council Chambers, Twenty Minutes Later 

"Mr. Harris. It has been decided by this council that while we do not know why the rebel faction is so interested in you it is highly unlikely that you are one of their agents." , Councilman Harmann said in a speech like tone, "Therefore we welcome you into our community and hope that you will come to view us as family. However in this family everyone must pull their own weight and contribute something to the rest of the group. There are several options open to you from city maintenance to a post on one of newly commissioned hovercraft. The choice is yours."

Xander let out a mental sigh of relief at the thought that he was no longer suspect numero uno and could now move around without feeling like everyone was looking at him. As far as doing his part there wasn't really any choice as far as he was concerned.

"I'd like to be assigned to a hovercraft sir if that is alright with the council." Xander stated like he was talking to either a judge or a supervisor.

"For what purpose?" Morpheus asked out of the blue causing more than one member of the council and Niobe to look at him in puzzlement.

"Well to be brutally honest because it increases the chances of me being able to enter the Matrix and visit my friends when I can." Xander said deciding to confuse them by being completely honest rather than try and come up with a more appealing reason.

"Do you wish to return to the Matrix?" Morpheus asked bluntly which only seemed to confound the council members further and apparently irritated Niobe for some reason.

"No I don't. Now that I know the truth going back would be intolerable." Xander replied madding a concentrated effort not to let the man's questions provoke him.

"Why?" Morpheus asked ignoring the looks he was getting.

"Because ignoring the truth after learning it would make me a coward and I'm no coward." , Xander said with a stony tone of voice, "Besides Gabriel and her goon squad would only come back and unplug me eventually if I went back. Personally I think I'm safer here in your guys' company than in theirs."

Morpheus nodded, apparently accepting this answer for the time being although he was still giving the Zeppo the hairy eyeball for some reason.

"Well if that is truly your decision than we will review the status of the crews on the active hover crafts and see if there are any vacancies that need to be filled." Councilman Harmann said as he tried to return this meeting to some manner of normalness.

"With the council's permission I would be willing to add him to the crew of the Neo Trinity." Niobe said surprising everyone in the room to varying degrees.

"Do you have a reason for this offer Captain Niobe?" Morpheus asked with some hostility.

"It is a matter of fact that I am going to soon be reaching the age when most hovercraft captains retire. I know this and I accept it." , Niobe said remaining calm in the face of Morpheus' hostility, "If I start teaching Xander how to operate certain parts of the ship now it will make for a much smoother transition when the new captain is assigned later. Not as many positions to fill and there'll be someone to make sure the new guys don't mess up my ship when I'm gone."

This seemed to dispel whatever it was that Morpheus didn't like and he said "Very well then. If there are no objections from the other members of the council then I will place Xander as a crew member on the Neo Trinity in our official records."

Xander himself was still a little floored at Niobe volunteering him for a position aboard the Neo Trinity like this. After all they barely knew one another so it couldn't be for any personal reasons or for friendship. So why did she do it? He guess he would just have to wait and see if she would explain herself later.


	4. Training the digital way and bait Slayer...

The Neo Trinity, After Supper, Broadcast Room 

**__**

**__**

"So what do we do first?" Xander asked as he watched Niobe sit in front of the main terminal and begin running some sort of program.

"First you sit down in one of those chairs and prepare yourself for jacking in." Niobe said without taking her eyes off of the screen.

"What? I thought we were going to be doing some training." Xander thought as he mentally brought up his idea of training.

He wasn't sure what hovercraft crew members were required to do in order to do their job but he did think that this wasn't the normal way of doing things. After all while he understood that this was pretty much a world where books had long since turned to ash and the only viable source of information was what they could glean from the Matrix. Still they had to have instruction books somewhere and maybe a VR simulator of some kind which logically would have been too big to fit inside a hovercraft.

"We are but not the way you're probably used to." , Niobe said as she finished her task at the main console and walked over to him, "Now sit down and brace yourself. It'll be awhile before you get used to the sensation of jacking in but it will get easier eventually."

Deciding to trust her somewhat he did as he was told and did his best to endure the nasty little stab of pain in the back of his head when Captain Niobe took the spike and shoved it in his socket. He fully expected for things to go black briefly before waking up somewhere else but for some reason he was still conscious and in the hovercraft. This of course left him a little confused as he had already written a rule in his head that when the spike goes in the world goes completely bye-bye and you wake up somewhere else. Since this wasn't the case though he suspected either he had gotten the rule wrong or needed to add a footnote or two beneath it. Niobe then went back to the main console and began to type again although he could not tell what she was typing since a lot of the cables and wires obscured his line of sight.

"Now while you might think that training here in Zion is done by reading books and trial and error I'm going to introduce you to a much more efficient way of doing things." Niobe stated and then with a single push of a button the 'more efficient way' was unleashed on the unsuspecting Zeppo.

With all the subtlety of a troll hammer to the head he felt his mind overwhelmed with words and images that were coming at him at such a speed so as to make them completely incomprehensible to him. It seemed to go on forever leaving him to wonder whether or not he would be stuck in this whirlwind of knowledge for an eternity. In reality though it was only a few seconds and when he came out of it he was amazed at the knowledge he now had at the end of his tongue. He now knew exactly how the hovercraft worked, mechanically speaking of course, as if he had been working as a crew member on it for years. However the strain of having that knowledge shoved into his head had left him gasping for air as he recovered.

"Like that did you?" Niobe asked sarcastically as she probably expected him to be in this state after his first download.

"Hell yeah!" Xander exclaimed as he mentally wished several times that this gear had been available to him during high school.

"Alright then. Now normally new recruits want to head straight to the combat training but I think that knowing how to navigate the tunnels in a hurry is more important." , Niobe said as the sounds of typing reached his ears, "After all its far more dangerous in the tunnels with the rebels hiding in every hole and hiding spot along the major traffic lines. The only time we have to confront them in the Matrix is when they're trying to recruit someone against their will."

"Does that happen often?" Xander asked with some concern and a little anger at the thought of innocent people being forced into this little skirmish.

"Only as much as they need in order to replenish their numbers. It's pretty quiet right now with the only real bit of excitement being when Gabriel went after you." , Niobe replied as she seemed to finish whatever file she was attempting to bring up, "Unfortunately with most conflicts happening ship-to-ship the hovercraft usually goes down with all hands lost."

"Makes sense." Xander stated as he mulled over what would most likely be his future.

It wasn't a situation that he liked all that much and given the state of things in terms of the environment he could honestly say that he didn't like these rebels very much. After all the world was more or less a wasteland and despite the onset of peace with these machines it was still quite a struggle for the few free humans of Zion to just survive. Adding the hassle of dealing with a group of malcontents who seemed determined on reviving the human-machine war and it would take forever before humanity managed to reach any semblance of its former glory. If there was anyway that he could help bring this conflict to a swifter end than it was currently rated for then he would.

"Now that you have the mechanics down pat its time to download the hovercraft piloting program." , Niobe said as she looked at him through the mess of cables and wires, "I made the program myself so after this download you should be able to handle a hovercraft almost as well as I can."

"Almost?" Xander asked with a little humor in his voice.

"'Almost' because there never has been and never will be a pilot as good as me!" Niobe said with a smile as she pressed the download button.

For a few moments Xander was unable to say, do or think anything as once more his mind became overwhelmed by the knowledge that was being zapped into his cranium. It was barely there but he could tell that there was slightly less edge to this download as opposed to the one that came before which he hoped meant that he was getting used to it. If it turned out to just be his imagination though than he was definitely going to be doing everything that he could to make these sessions ended as soon as possible. After all a guy could only afford to have his brain scrambled so many times before he was fit to be measured for a straitjacket.

In any case it turned out that the downloads did become easier and as time went on he actually came to like the process or rather the knowledge that he gained as a result. By the end of the day he not only possessed the knowledge necessary to maintain and operate the Neo Trinity but also several forms of martial arts as well. It was amazing and more than a little exciting as it seemed that where one minute ago he knew next to nothing about Kung Fu he was now the equal of any master in terms of knowledge. He didn't let it go to his head though as he knew that there was a difference between having the knowledge and actually being able to perform the techniques in live combat. It was the same sort of thing as watching a 'how to' video and then expecting to be able to imitate what you saw perfectly. Still with a little hard work and some time he was confident that he could become good enough that if a vamp ever tried to make a meal of him again it would only be able to get two words out before filling up an urn. That was of course assuming most of his work wound up taking him into the Matrix and not simply scouting the tunnels as Niobe seemed to think was most likely. In any case he would go with the flow and learn as much as he could so he wouldn't be a burden to these people. Yep, no more being a useless hanger on for this boy! This time he was going to play just a big a role in Zion as Buffy did in the Matrix and no one was going to give him any lip ever again. However as the image of Buffy that always sprang to mind when her name was mentioned he suddenly realized something that he had completely forgotten about.

_ Oh my God! Buff and the gang! _Xander thought as the reality of things slammed into his brain like a 747.

Now he did not know just how long he had been disconnected to the Matrix or how much time had passed back in Sunnydale but he was fairly certain it had been long enough for him to be missed by his friends. Given the Thief's entrance into his home that they were aware of and his 'disappearance' a few days later they would be in a complete uproar never mind what other hellmouthy problem might have cropped up in the meantime. He had to get back or at least progress through this training as quickly as he could so that he would be able to make a request to return to the Matrix without being given the 'you aren't ready yet' excuse.

"Niobe? How soon before I would be able to go back and talk to my friends in the Matrix?" , Xander asked as he waited for her to come over and unplug him, "Buffy's probably terrorizing the local demon population to work out her stress and Willow's probably on the verge of a nervous breakdown!"

"Well if you keep sucking in knowledge at this rate and the Council doesn't give us anything else to do we could probably go to see your friends in about four days." , Niobe replied with a grin at his emotional description of the situation back in Sunnydale, "Just so you know though if you start hitting a few snags or I think you could use a little more construct time there might be a few more days tacked onto that estimate."

"No problem. So how's about we finish up the martial arts portion of this 'training' session and then call it a day?" Xander asked as he accepted the terms he would have to meet if he was to get back home as soon as possible.

"If you say so Yogi!" Niobe said as she began to set up the next file for download.

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm smarter than the average kid!" Xander said in his best Yogi Bear voice before he was robbed of the ability to talk by the download.

Warehouse District, Sunnydale, The Matrix, Midnight 

**__**

**__**

_Hang on Xander! We're getting closer!_ Buffy thought to herself as she crept up to the warehouse the Scooby's research had dug up.

They had been stonewalled by every federal database that Willow had been able to access prior to the arrival of the federal agents so the wicca had been forced to start asking some less than reputable sources online. Giles as well had called in a few favors from equally distasteful members of the occult and demon community and that was what had gotten them to where they were now. Apparently this terrorist group that was after Xander dabbled in some pretty exotic stuff which sent up some pretty specific signals to the demonic community. It had taken a sixteenth century ceremonial urn with replication properties but thankfully the demons who wanted it were more or less benevolent so there was no chance of an 'attack of the clones' episode. The spells that this terrorist organization were employing originated from this warehouse and were of the variety that took time to set up and cast so there was a very good chance that they were still here. She wasn't quite sure what she was going to do with them once she confronted them but she was sure that she would come up with something. All that mattered was convincing them to leave Xander alone and abandon all plans that involved Sunnydale and the Scoobies. True Giles had wanted to wait until they could get more information on this group before taking any action but she had refused to wait. The longer they waited the harder it would be to get them to leave town and the last thing they needed right now was another problem on top of the mystery commandoes that had been popping up recently. Better to squish this problem now than fight two enemies later and given that they were just human meant that she could probably take them down easy as long as she didn't give them any time to cast a spell or two.

_ Now what would be the best way to get inside?_ Buffy thought to herself as she examined the front and side of the warehouse that was her target.

The doors were an automatic 'no' as it was a fairly safe bet that they were either booby trapped or well guarded and since she and guns didn't get along very well the direct approach was not of the good. Looking skyward she was fortunate enough to stumble upon a fire escape and while the ladder did not reach the ground she could easily reach it with her Slayer strength. Crunching down a bit she pushed off the ground hard and almost overshot the fire escape but fortunately grabbed a hold of it and swung over the railing. Taking a moment to listen just in case she had been a little too loud she was gratified to hear nothing that sounded like guns cocking or panicky terrorists. To her right though was window that led to the interior and with all the stealth that came from sneaking out of the house prior to her mom finding about the Slayer she snuck inside. Once the exited the room the window had let her into she found that she was on a catwalk that spanned the entire warehouse. Looking down to the ground level she was surprised to find no one there an no tell tale signs of questionable mojo being done here at all. No funky drawings on the ground, no questionable smells and definitely no wierdos in robes chanting gibberish in low foreboding tones. Either the demons screwed up with the magic end of their deal or they gave the terrorists some advance warning in exchange for a small gratuity. In any case they weren't here right now and that left her with two choices. The first was that she could look the place over and try and find something the terrorists might have left behind that could shed some light on the situation. The second was just to go home and start all over again with Willow and the others tomorrow although Giles would probably take an hour to go all Ripper-like and swear bloody revenge on those so called benevolent demons he got this info from. After all from they way he talked about the urn he gave up it was pretty valuable and the only reason why he had given it up was because he had been certain that the trade would lead to something.

_Oh well! Might as well give the place a once over just in case._ Buffy thought as she leapt from the catwalk to the ground below.

Unfortunately she didn't get much farther than five minutes into the search before her Slayer sense went off the charts and she spun around to find six people standing behind here with a taste for leather and black sunglasses.

"Something we can help you with Ms. Summers?" asked the tall short-haired British woman who could easily pass for a man with the right clothes.

"Yeah you can leave this town and never come back." , Buffy said in her 'just leave or things will get messy' tone of voice, "This town has enough problems with the local pests without having to deal with goth freak terrorist groups invading the local B & E set."

"I'm afraid we can't leave until we have what we are after Ms. Summers but thanks to your less than subtle intrusion here we now have just what we need to coax Mr. Harris out into the open." The woman who looked like a man said before her entourage began to encircle the Slayer.

"Better rethink your plan there because there is no way that I'm going to help you hurt Xander!" Buffy said as she slipped into a defensive stance and tried her best to keep everyone of them in sight.

"Oh don't worry! The last thing we want is to hurt Mr. Harris but you on the other hand are another story entirely. GET HER!" the woman ordered and as one the five minions attacked her.

Deciding that it would be a bad idea to let them surround her for the duration of the fight she leapt upwards in an attempt to both avoid the attacker who she couldn't see while at the same time escaping the circle of attackers. However she had barely gotten a foot off the ground before the one directly in front of her seemed to instantly speed up and land a solid side kick to her stomach. With the wind knocked out of her temporarily she was unable to stop the one behind her from locking his arms around her in order to immobilize her. Fortunately it didn't last and whoever was holding her would soon find that restraining a Slayer was easier said than done. Using the man's arms as support she flung her right leg back and scored a direct hit on his nose resulting in a temporary loss of grip on her which she used to slip her arms out of his grasp. Once free she immediately executed a donkey kick to his gut sending him flying backwards almost to the outer wall of the warehouse. Knowing that her assailants would immediately try to plug up the hole behind her and quickly executed a series of back flips allowing her to clear the circle. Seeing a broom nearby she grabbed it and snapped off one end to make it into a makeshift staff which would hopefully give her an advantage. This of course relied on the preconception that they wanted her alive because if they wound up pulling out guns she was going to be **so** screwed.

When the first one came up on her left she lashed out with a jab which the man avoided but gave her room to wind up for a baseball bat swing to clothesline the one approaching on her right knocking the older woman to the ground. As the one on the left straightened up from the dodge she thrust her right foot out hitting him in the stomach and taking him out of the fight until he got his wind back. This left two not counting the boss to deal with and unfortunately when one grabbed the end of her staff it left her immobile long enough for the other to land a solid punch to her face. This caused her to stagger back a little bit as the right hook she had received was quite a bit stronger than she had anticipated. She gained her senses back in time to block the next punch but knowing that she should probably take the powerhouse here out of the fight earlier she changed her block into a grab. Once she had a good enough grip she used her other to deliver a debilitating blow to the elbow of the arm she had which resulted in a satisfying 'crack' sound indicating a broken arm. With pain blocking all thought Buffy lashed out with a kick to 'Ms. Powerhouse's' side which would hopefully would bruise her enough to limit her movement.

Sensing that the two she had dispatched with the help of the staff were coming up behind her she back flipped three times in order to gain enough momentum to perform a move she had seen on one of Xander's wrestling shows. In the show the wrestler she was imitating would knock his opponent into the turnbuckles and then go to the other turnbuckle immediately across from it. Once there he would do a series of fancy back flips to gain momentum before slamming his elbow into the face of his adversary. In her case however she lashed out with both elbows in an attempt to hit both attackers at once and was rewarded when she felt her arms hit something. Looking back to see her attackers on the ground holding their faces she smiled smugly figuring that while these guys weren't slouches this fight would probably take no more than another five minutes. Then hopefully she could convince them to take their little act elsewhere and leave Xander alone so the Scooby gang could get back to the normal weirdness that happened on Sunnydale. Unfortunately as she suddenly felt a sharp prick in her neck she suddenly realized that she may have made a serious mistake ignoring the ring leader of this troop of morons. Reaching up to where she had felt the sharp prick she quickly discovered what felt, and when she pulled it out to look at, like a tranquilizer dart.

"Nice try lady but I think you'll find that it'll take more than a measly tranquilizer dart to take a Slayer down." Buffy said confidently despite the light headed feeling that was beginning to cloud her mind.

"True. However what you were just injected with was something my people concocted with a hybrid such as you in mind." , the woman said still holding the tranq gun in her hand, "As a matter of fact I would estimate that you have a bout thirty seconds of consciousness left before you fall asleep completely."

Buffy wasn't sure what the woman meant by 'hybrid' but then again it was starting to get hard to think about anything as she found her concentration fading by the second. Cursing herself for getting so overconfident she made a run for one of the doors on the ground floor with the intention of breaking through it and finding a place to hide until the effects of the tranquilizer wore off. However with every step she took she found her legs becoming more and more sluggish with greater amounts of focus required to get them to move at the speed she wanted. When she was within two steps of the door she had been aiming at she braced herself for impact but saw the world through her eyes go black before she hit the door. All she could think about as all coherency left her was 'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.'.

Undisclosed Location, Thirty Minutes Later 

"Report." Came the disembodied but distinctly male voice.

"We have come across a spot of good luck sir." , Gabriel said with no small amount of satisfaction, "One of Alexander Harris' friends, a Ms. Buffy Summers, broke into our entry point in Sunnydale half an hour ago. We were able to subdue her and currently have her restrained by both sedative programs and chains."

"Excellent. Now all that is left is for word to be leaked back to Mr. Harris in Zion and he will come to us no matter what Morpheus and those fools try to do to stop him." The male voice said in a way that made it clear this bit of news pleased him.

"Indeed. Once he arrives it will be a simple matter to locate the origin of his broadcast and move our hovercrafts into position." Gabriel said as she smelled a promotion in her future.

"Do not grow overconfident Gabriel. According to our spies in Zion Captain Niobe has taken the boy under her wing." , the male voice said denoting a deep respect for the Captain of Zion, "While I doubt she has had time to do anything more than cover the basics with him you would do well to take her seriously."

"I understand." Gabriel stated doing her best to keep her jealousy from her voice.

It was no secret among her crew that she had no love for the veteran Captain Niobe and would take great pleasure in taking her down. However it was also known that their supreme leader had a soft spot for Niobe and would normally avoid doing anything to harm her so long as the action didn't make him look weak to his followers. So far he had managed to keep the majority of them from getting any ideas about a coup de tat but it still angered Gabriel to no end that the leader had feelings for Niobe. She herself had been a loyal follower of his from the beginning and had done everything she could to carry out the missions she was given to the best of her ability. Yet despite that she had yet to receive any special praise or affection from him and she knew it was because he was still pining over **that** woman. Still it would be unprofessional for her to show her displeasure in front of him and so she kept her mouth shut and her face passive.

"It shouldn't take more than two days for word to reach him and for the Neo Trinity to reach optimum broadcast depth. I suggest you prepare for their arrival." The male voice said and before she could say anything the connection was cut and she was left by herself.

_Oh I'll prepare alright! Prepare to end Niobe's feeble existence!_ Gabriel thought to herself as she left to outline her plans to the crew.


End file.
